A Shattered Star
by Forrester96
Summary: During their fifth summer, an incident occurred involving the Twins. After that, Mabel had changed. She was never the same. She was broken inside and it was beyond repair. Will Wendy and her friends manage to bring her back to her former self or will she change into someone not what she seems?
1. Prologue 1: The Day That Change It All

**Hello again! So, here I am, trying to work on the new story besides my 'In Time' fanfic (it will not be abandoned I promise you that).**

 **I have to warn you that this story will not be a smooth sailing. Its a tragedy story, what do you expect? But I will slide in some fluff somewhere in here.**

 **So, we're cool? Okay now enjoy reading!**

* * *

The summer has arrived again. And the Mystery Shack once again were brimming with tourists. They were eager to see various attractions that were available in the Shack. And once again. Mr. Mystery himself, Stanley Pines, were guiding them to show them various stitched-up taxidermies from various animal parts. It was either the tourists were oblivious or dumb enough to believe Stan's explanations of these so called "creatures of unbelievable".

Wendy was chilling at the cash register with her magazines. She felt grateful that Mr. Pines would still sympathize her to get the old job back. But the truth was, Stanley couldn't trust anyone else except Wendy. She may had been a slacker, but that made him felt relief as he didn't have to cash out more money for her salary. Wendy didn't even mind the salary, she was just there because she didn't want to go to Portland to work at her cousin's logging camp. That place always gave her the creeps.

But as for today, everything was slow. The gifts shop was empty, there were no tourists and surprisingly, Stan wanted to close up the shop early. This made Wendy curious. She looked at her watch, it was 2:30 in the afternoon. He never close up shop this early.

"Hey, Stan. Why are we closing up this early? Is something going on?"

"Yeah, Dipper and Mabel are coming back. You can go home if you wanna."

Wendy smiled after hearing that. She was expecting for them to come again this summer. She met them when they were twelve, the first time she met them, she felt the twins were a unique, different kind of kids. They constantly dragged Wendy and Soos into the forest for their crazy adventures and mysteries. Surprisingly, they were lots of weird things in the forests around Gravity Falls that she didn't even know. Every summer they came, they will have new things to discover and new things to be unfold. Wendy chuckled at the memories of their good times. This was the fifth year of the summer they came back to Gravity Falls. The Shack was their second home now.

"Nah, I wanna stay a while here a lil' bit. Maybe meet with them for a while."

"Suit yourself kid, but I'm not paying you for today."

"Since when you ever pay me boss?" Wendy jokingly asked him.

Stanley just ignored her. "Soos! Is the attic ready?" Stan yelled from the stairs at the Shack's handyman, Soos. Apparently, Soos had been cleaning up the attic room and refurbished them for their arrival.

"It's almost done Mr. Pines! I just need to move the bed and everything will be nice." Shouted Soos from upstairs.

Wendy decided to look at the attic room. She climbed the stairs and enter the room. She was impressed with the room. It was spacious again, the bed were both at the opposite left and right to the room and there was a study table in the middle of it facing the wall. The wall on Mabel's side even still have the posters of her favorite boy band she put up last year.

"Wow Soos, you really made this room just the way it is again. The last time I enter this room, there're full of boxes and junk stuffs."

"Well dude, I did my best cleaning up this room. After all, it is their room." Soos wiped his forehead away. He was tired, but he also felt an accomplishment after managing up the room.

Stan then passed Wendy, and inspect the room. He was satisfied. "Well, I like it! Just the way it is."

"Thanks Mr. Pines! I can' wait to meet them again! When do they arrive?" Soos was the most excited one asking.

"Apparently, they'll arrived here on 3:15, if I guessing correctly." Stan looked at his watch as he walked out from the room and descended the stairs. Wendy and Soos followed suit.

Stepping down the stairs, the phone rang in the living room. Stan immediately went and picked it up.

"Hello."

…

"Yes, that's me. What is this about?"

…

"Yeah, that's them. Look, is everything alright?"

…

"WHAT!? W-where are they now? A-are they al-alright?"

…

"Oh dear God. I'll be right there."

Stan hung up the phone, and started to run out exiting the Shack.

Wendy, who was listening, was frantically surprised by the sudden change of Stan.

"Stan, what happened?"

Stan halted for a while, looking back at her. "It was Dipper and Mabel. The-they were in an accident while coming here and now they're in the hospital." He then continued to exit the Shack and ran to his car.

Wendy and Soos shockingly gasped hearing that. Without any hesitation, both of them followed Stan. Wendy locked the house and rode with Soos's truck. They sped up to catch up with Stan who was distance away from them.

She didn't expect this day was going to be like this. _Dear God please don't let anything bad happened to them._

* * *

Stan, Wendy and Soos were waiting in the waiting room on the third floor. They were waiting for the doctor to come telling them some news. Stan couldn't helped himself to sit down and walked around the waiting room back and forth. He had called the Mabel and Dipper's parents to inform them of the situation, they were flabbergasted and told him they will immediately come. He also informed his twin brother, Stanford about the situation. Ford seemed to be shocked by the news that he decided to immediately abandon all his research in Nevada. He promised to return to Gravity Falls as soon as possible. Wendy still couldn't grasped the fact that the twins were in this horrible accident. She was silent all the time and couldn't speak anything. Soos on the other hand was fiddling with his hat. He also felt the same thing as Wendy's.

The doctor entered the waiting room. Wendy and Soos stood up while Stan approached him and shake his shoulders.

"Doc, please tell me my nephew and niece is okay." Pleaded Stan as he struggled to hold back his tears.

The doctor sighed. "Mr. Pines, Mabel is fine. She just suffered some minor injuries. She was being treated as we speak. But Dipper, well, the operation managed to save him, but unfortunately, he's in a coma."

Stan felt his knees fumbled. "What? What does that mean Doc? Is he going to b-be okay?"

"For now, we need to keep an eye on him. We can't determine when or will he wakes up."

"No…" Wendy choked hearing the Doctor's statement. Tears fell down her cheek and she stumbled back to her sit. Soos tried to console her as best as he can. It was a bad day for all of them.

Stan held up his breath, and asked if they can see Mabel. The doctor nodded and led them to one of the room she's admitted in.

The doctor then opened the door but surprised the see Mabel was help up by the nurses. She was frantically screaming and was to get off the bed.

"Dipper! Dipper! Where's my brother!? I need him! Get. Off. Me! Let me go!"

Stan who heard the commotion, immediately walked past the doctor and enter the room.

"Mabel!" Stan shouted a little bit to snap her out from her frantic. Mabel jolted a little bit hearing that gruff voice.

"Gr-grunkle Stan?" Mabel finally stop resisting her will to get off the bed. The nurses decided to let her arms go and turned around to leave the room. Her head was bandaged, there were bruies and scratches all over her face, her sweater was torn and her knees were scraped. She looked terrible.

"Yes sweetie, it's me."

Her eyes started to flow tears down her cheek. She held out her arms towards Stan signing him that she want to hug. Stan without hesitation move forward and reached her and squeeze her tight. Mabel was crying, burying her face into his black coat.

"Its okay sweetie, you're okay. I'm here. We're here." Stan consoled her. Wendy and Soos slowly entered the room and stood behind Stan.

"Grunkle Stan, where's Dipper? I need to see if he's okay." Mabel asked.

Stan was hesitant to tell her. "Mabel… Your brother is fine… but…"

Mabel held up her hand, gripping her fists like ready to receive a punch to her gut.

"He's in a coma." Stan blurted out. He immediately pulled out his glasses and rubbed his eyes.

Mabel broke down, she was crying and hyperventilating after hearing that her other half was in a coma. She jumped out from her bed to run to her brother, wherever he was, but was held up by Wendy.

"Woah, Mabel please, you can't go anywhere. You're hurt."

"I need to see him, I need to see Dipper! Let me go!" Mabel was struggling to latch out from Wendy's grip.

"Mabel please…" Wendy pleaded to Mabel. She pulled her into a hug. Mabel wrapped around Wendy's neck, hugging her to find comfort.

"Wendy, I'm scared. I'm-" Wendy cut her off, "Mabel, its all going to be alright. We're here for you."

"But please, I really need to see Dipper." Mabel pleaded to them. She couldn't stayed in the room anymore. She was worried about Dipper, so was Wendy, Soos and Stan.

Stan sadly sighed. "Alright, let me go ask the doctor if we can see him or not." Stan then walked out of the room to find the doctor.

Soos came over Mabel, tried to console her. "Mabel, Dipper is a tough guy. He's strong like you do. You don't have to worry about it." Mabel looked at Soos, and gave him a hug.

Stan walked back into the room and called three of them. Stan led them to where Dipper was put in. Along the way, Wendy and Soos held onto Mabel's arms as she was still weak and can't walk by herself.

* * *

Reaching the room, they entered the room just to find out the horror and sadness.

Dipper was strapped with wires, his legs was casted and his left eyes were bandaged. There were scars along his chest and they was a Ventilator and a pipe that connected to his mouth to support his breathing.

Mabel ran passed them, slightly stumbled down to the ground, pushing Stan away and went beside Dipper's bed.

"Dipper, wake up! Dipper! It's me Mabel, wake up! Pleaseeeee." Mabel wailed and cried over her comatose brother. But needlessly how hard she called out to him, Dipper didn't opened his eyes, they were no response.

Wendy gasped and cover her mouth seeing Dipper like that. She tried to hold her tears but it failed. Soos's hand went over his head in disbelief and Stan was just shocked seeing his nephew's condition like that.

Mabel held her grip over her brother's bed railing so hard. She was breathing not normally. She looked back to Dipper.

"Dipper, don't do this to me. Wake… up… Please."

There was dead silence in the room, only Mabel's sobbing and the breathing machine was heard.

* * *

 **Well, how about it? Honestly, I'm suck writing down this kind of story but I needed to get it out from my system. I needed to mess with people's feelings.**

 **Anywho, review please! I needed it, it's like an** **ecstasy, but in a good positive way.**

 **JNVRKVIKFNE NZCC WFIVMVI SV TCFJV.**


	2. Prologue 2: Making a Promise

**I see that my description may be a little bit too spoilery. So, I decided to edit it out.**

 **So, no response yet? Is it too hard on your feels guys? Because if it is, then cogratulations to me! I successfully cracked your heart.**

 **Nothing to say anymore other than; happy reading!**

* * *

"Dipper, why are you doing this to me? Wake up…" Mabel, who sat beside of Dipper's bed, muttered to her brother who was still didn't wake up. It was already two weeks after the incident.

Mabel was supposed to be discharged and Stan should have taken her back to the Shack, but she refused to leave the hospital. Their parents arrived the day after the incident, and was shattered by what they had seen. Mrs. Pines were so shocked, she fainted seeing her only baby son being strapped with wires and Ventilator. Mr. Pines couldn't say anything besides consoling her wife and tried his best to convince her that Dipper will be okay.

Ford arrived three days after the incident. He immediately stopped by the hospital to check on Dipper. He didn't show that much emotions besides shocked and frustrated. He was supposed to take Dipper with him on a research of the colony of Ant-Lions in the forest this summer. But it was all died down after seeing Dipper in a state like this. He shook his head, couldn't see what he saw anymore and left the hospital to return to the shack.

Wendy, Stan and Soos was the one who kept visiting the hospital. Wendy always sat on the left side of Dipper's bed and Mabel sat on the left side of the bed. Stan and Soos both were sitting on the corner of the room. Stan had closed down the Shack a week in a row. He felt he couldn't do the tours while his nephew was critical in the hospital. It bugged his mind too much. He never close down this long, but he didn't care about how many money he lost anymore, all he cared now is Dipper being awake.

Mabel stared at Dipper, trying her best to converse with him even she knew, he wouldn't respond.

"Hey, bro-bro. Remember the last summer, we came here on the first day? And you immediately dragged me into the forest after we finished settling up our room? You were so eager to find that dumb diamonds in the river creek just to impress Wendy." Mabel sadly chuckled a little bit by her own story. Wendy just smiled hearing that.

Mabel continued, "Then, we arrived at the river, you suddenly fell over into the river, and yelping that you were drowning even though the river was practically shallow? You looked ridiculous and messed up that day, but… nevertheless… you got the diamonds and gave it to Wendy…" Mabel started to frown again.

"Dipper… please, say something back…" She held his hand and gripped it tightly. Wendy, who just heard that story, couldn't voice out but only her tears came down. Her cheeks became wet once again. Wendy knew Dipper have a crush on her since he was twelve, but she tried to explain to him that she felt more comfortable in just being friends. Dipper sadly agreed but she knew that his feelings towards her never died down.

Wendy pulled her chair to get closer to Dipper's bed. She tried to talk to him.

"Dipper, I… just want you to know that I-I know that you have feelings for me. For the past 5 years you've never get tired of trying to impress me with everything you can. The diamonds, the sunsets on the Gravity Peak, bringing me to a prom. You are the best guy I've ever known. But please, give in some strength and open your eyes. Mabel needs you, your parents needs you, Stan and Ford and Soos needs you, and I…."

Wendy choked on the next word she wanted to say. "I need you the most." Once again, her tears went down, making her cheeks wet. She tried to hold back the tears, but constantly failed. She couldn't help herself.

* * *

It was nighttime. The hospital were quiet, the hallway was dim with only a couple of lights and the nurses were busy making a round in the floor. Mabel and Wendy were the only persons left in Dipper's room. Wendy decided to stay back after seeing Mabel being miserable for the whole two weeks. She tried to take Mabel to go out to eat at Greasy's but she refused and told her she wanted to stay with Dipper. Mabel was sitting besides Dipper's bed, leaning half of her body to the side and rested the head besides his left arm. Wendy just sitting near the wall, leaning back to it. She couldn't sleep seeing that Mabel didn't sleep.

"Uhh, hey, Mabel, can we talked for a while?" Wendy called out to her. Mabel lifted her head and turned to Wendy.

"Yeah? What is it?" Mabel slowly stood up and approached Wendy.

"Can I ask you what really happened that day?"

Mabel turned her head down, looking at the floor. She was silent.

"Please Mabel, all you said was a truck crashed into your car and went down the ravine. But look at you, you look… fine and Dipper's the one who's badly hurt!" Wendy persuaded to know the truth. Mabel was being secretive about the incident. She wouldn't talk about it even to Stan.

Mabel looked up and stared at Wendy's eyes. She took a seat beside her.

"That day, we're on our way here, like the usual summer we always do. I was driving, Dipper was reading a book at my side. It was fine and all until…"

* * *

 _"Mabel, please be more serious when driving. At this rate you'll gonna get us both killed!" Dipper raised his voice when he felt Mabel was gleefully moving her hands on the air like she don't care while listening to her favorite boy band song._

 _"Awww, you're no fun Dipper. You know its sooooo boring that I have to stick my hand on this steering wheel all day?" Mabel stop waving her hand and held the steering back. She pouted at Dipper._

 _Dipper just chuckled, "That is why it's called driving, Mabes."_

 _"I know but-""_

Suddenly, the truck came from the wrong side of the road and crashed beside them. Dipper and Mabel screamed from the sudden crash. The truck was pushing the car onto the barrier of the side of the road.

 _"WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH THIS GUY?!" Dipper shouted. He needed to find a way to get them out from there._

Mabel tried to squeeze the pedal harder in hope that the car can get out from the pressurize truck. But no avail, the truck had already done its damage.

 _Both the car and the truck went through the barrier and tumbling down the sloppy ravine. Mabel screamed and Dipper tried to figure out something in that moment. There was nothing he can do. They're gonna die. He looked at Mabel who was panicking, and he had to do what he had to do; protecting his sister._

 _Dipper immediately grabbed Mabel and hugged her tightly, making him as a cocoon for her sister. She heard Dipper saying an incantation,_

 _"_ _ **Virtute Signaid protege nos!**_ _"_

 _There were bright blue lights surrounding them as they rolled in the car tumbling down the ravine._

 _Mabel's vision went black after that._

 _Waking up, she looked around. They were out from the car. They must have been thrown out while going down the slope. The wreckage of the truck and the car were around her. She called out to Dipper, but there was no answer. She tried to stand up, she felt great pain on her knees. She crawled around the wreckage, calling out for her brother. Then she saw…_

 _Dipper was mangled below the steel plate of the truck, crushing him. Mabel crawled faster to reach him. She quickly saw his brother's condition. He was still breathing. His left eyes were pierced with a metal shrapnel and his chest was crushed. She tried to lift the metal plate, but she couldn't do it, she was too weak in her state. She cried out for help, but there were not answer, she tried lifting the metal plate again, she couldn't._

 _Her screams were heard across the forest that day…_

* * *

"If… it wasn't for him, both of us would have died. But I-I…" Mabel couldn't speak anymore. She held her hands and covered her face.

"It's my fault, I shouldn't drive that day. I'm responsible for his state right now. Now he's suffering because of ME!" Mabel cried out.

Wendy held her shoulder, comforting her.

"Mabel, listen to me. Don't blame yourself. It wasn't your fault. Things happened… and they didn't happen because of you."

"Dipper is my other half, he's part of me. What if he's gone? What will I do? I can't live with that."

Wendy pulled Mabel into a hug. She squeeze her a little tight as a sign of comforting. Truthfully, Wendy didn't know what to do anymore. Dipper was in a comatose, Mabel wasn't being Mabel. She felt the world around her falling down. Wendy didn't even expect that this summer was going to be like this. She had plans for the twins, but she scratched all of that away.

Mabel was still crying and held Wendy tightly with arms wrapped around her. Wendy just rubbing her back. Moments later, Mabel felt asleep on her arms. Wendy slowly pulled her, and adjusting her on the chair to make her comfortable. Wendy then went to Dipper's bed and took a seat at the chair situated beside it. She then slowly laid her head down beside Dipper's right arm and closed her eyes.

She prayed that Dipper will open his eyes again.

* * *

The bird was chirping on the tree, the sky was blue and the forest was green and serene. Wendy heard someone calling her name from distant. She slowly opened her eyes and realized she wasn't in a hospital. She was in the forest. She stood up and walked to the voice that was calling her. Walking through the thick bushes, crossing the river creek, she couldn't find who was calling her. Wendy then wanted to give up and wanted to wake up. She closed her eyes, trying to return to reality then suddenly he heard a familiar voice behind her calling her name.

"Wendy."

She turned around and gasped at the figure who was calling her. It was Dipper. She ran towards him trying to hug him. But instead, he disappeared.

"Dipper? Where are you?" Wendy called out his name. She was just saw him and he just disappeared. "Dipper, don't play around with me, please come back!"

She looked around and saw the teen boy across the river. He was at the creek. He was holding something in his hand.

"Wendy, I just came here just to tell you. I won't be here that much longer." Dipper's voice was calm and his smile was heartwarming as he told Wendy.

"NO! Are you kidding? You have to wake up! Don't do this to us. Don't do this to Mabel, don't… do this to… me… She loves you, I… love you." Wendy sobbingly shouted at him from across the river. She couldn't believe what he just said. How could he leave the world like that as nobody would be prepared for it?

Dipper just smiled. "I want you to promise me something." Dipper made his first step into the river, walking towards her. Wendy felt her legs moving by herself, doing the same thing as Dipper's.

"W-what is it?"

"Take care of Mabel for me. She has a big heart, but she stuff everything she felt around her. Her heart is fragile, like a star that can shattered in anytime."

"What are you talking about? Why won't you come back? Please wake up now. We missed you. Don't you know Mabel's been miserable since you went into a coma? Why is this happening?"

Both of them approached each other at the middle of the shallow river. They were finally face to face. Wendy raised her hand and laid her palm onto his temple.

"Wake up please. Don't do this to me. Don't do this to Mabel." Wendy pleaded. Her eyes was already red from crying. She furrowed her brows while looking at his face. Dipper held her hand, gripping it slowly, and he put something on her palm and close it into a fist. Wendy pulled her hand and opened his palm. It was the diamond Dipper gave her last year.

"When we were rolling down that ravine, I knew that saving her will be the death of me. The incantation wasn't meant for both of us. It was intended for one person. So I figured that, one of the Pines need to live. We're twins, I will always be with her. But she was still fragile, her heart can be molded easily, I'm the reason she was a cheerful, wonderful and bright girl. Without me after this, she will be lost. She wouldn't have the reason to be herself anymore." He explained to Wendy what happened to them during that incident. Wendy couldn't stand it anymore, she bow her head down, trying not to let her tears out anymore. Unfortunately, she can't. The harder she tried, the more the waterworks flowed down her already wet cheeks.

"Wendy, promise me?" Dipper asked Wendy once again. He touched her chin, raised her up so he can see her. Wendy then opened her mouth to say something but shut it back. Slowly, she nodded. She couldn't held it back anymore, Wendy wrapped her arms around Dipper's neck and pulled him into a hug.

"I love you."

"I love you too Wendy. I always have."

Dipper then pulled her into a kiss. It was just seconds long, before Wendy heard something beeping echoed from the sky. Then she felt Dipper backing away before vanishing away. He smiled and mouthed something to her.

"Promise me."

"I promise…"

…

* * *

Wendy opened her eyes, she bolted upright onto her seat. She heard loud constant beeping coming out from the heartbeat monitor. Then she saw Dipper's body was twitching violently. She stood up, and shouted at Mabel who was still sleeping.

"MABEL! WAKE UP! GO FIND A DOCTOR!"

Mabel jolted and her eyes were widened as she saw what was going on. She was hesitant but ran outside to search for the doctor. Wendy then came closer to Dipper, holding his shoulder trying to calm down him down.

"Dipper please…" Wendy pleaded to comatose Dipper who was violently twitching on the bed. The doctor then entered the room with a couple of nurse and instructed Wendy to back away. She did that and saw Mabel passed the doctor and the nurses surrounding the bed. Mabel was pushed aside by them telling to stay away for a while. One of the nurse then pulled the curtain to cover the surroundings. Wendy was frozen from where she stood, she couldn't hear anything except for the defibrillator being zapped and Mabel's wailing.

Wendy reached for her phone to call Stan at the Shack. She dialed and it was picked up.

"Stan, its Wendy, come quick! Dipper's having a…"

 _beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeppppppppppppppppppp…_

Wendy's eyeballs rolled to where the sound came from, it was from the heartbeat monitor. The grip on her phone suddenly loosen up, making the phone fell to the floor, cracking the screen. Mabel then rushed towards the curtain and she screamed.

"DIPPER NO! COME BACK! DIPPER PLEASE! DON'T LEAVE ME. DIPPPERRRRRRR!" She shook Dipper's lifeless body as she pleaded to him not to leave her. She fell on her knees, "How can I live without you? Dipper… Come… back." but it was all over. He was gone.

Dipper Pines was dead.

* * *

 **What? It's a tragedy story. Don't blame me for making you crying. Okay, alright, the next episode will not have this kind of scene anymore. I'll be focusing on Mabel character. Be warned though that Mabel will be a little bit OOC, but hey, that's what I intend to do.**

 **NBY MNUL BUX VYYH WLUWEYX. QCFF CN MBUNNYLM?  
**


	3. Things Will Never Be Same Again

**Never thought I would have write something like this, but what the hell, it's kinda fun having this kinds of interpretations of AU. Things might get pretty intense in this chapter. So, here's chapter 3!**

 **Hopefully, you guys will enjoy reading it.**

* * *

It was a gloomy day for the Pines family, Wendy, Soos and others. The funeral was held at the Gravity Falls Cemetery. Mabel's parents refused to bring back Dipper back to Piedmont as they felt that he deserved to be buried here instead. Almost everyone in the town attend the funeral.

Wendy sat with the Pines family, besides Mabel. She noticed that Mabel was really quiet and refused to talk to anyone. She looked around to see other attendees and she noticed Pacifica Northwest standing between the crowds. She was wearing a shades but her blonde hair gave it out. After the funeral, most of the crowd already disperse. Wendy followed the Pines from behind. Wendy then noticed that Pacifica approached Mabel.

"Mabel, I'm so sorry-" Pacifica began to said her condolences then Mabel cut her off.

"So, you decided to show up after he's dead. Some kind of friend you are." Mabel said to her coldly.

Pacifica pulled her shades off, her eyes were welling with tears. "Mabel please, it's not like that. You know my father didn't let me-"

"ENOUGH!" Mabel snapped and walked passed through her. Wendy was utterly shocked by Mabel's attitude. She's never been like this before. Then she saw Pacifica broke down and fell on her knees. Wendy quickly went over to her.

"Hey, are you alright? I've never seen her like that." Wendy told her with a full concern. She never known Pacifica that well except that she met her a couple of times at the town. They were both in a good terms and Wendy was fine with that.

Pacifica sniffled and wiped her eyes. "I-It's my fault. I should have explained to him what really happened. It's my fault." She said as she began to stand up again.

Pacifica then looked at Wendy. She began to wear her shades again. "We'll talk later." She said then walked away.

Wendy looked at Pacifica while she entered the limo. She then was startled by Stan's voice calling her to hurry up as they needed to return to the Shack. Wendy turned and ran to him.

 _What was that about?_ Wendy thought as she entered Stan's Diablo. She knew that Pacifica have a friendly relationship with the twins but what made Mabel snapped like that? She began to shrug it off.

* * *

Back at the Shack, Mabel's parents decided to take her back to Piedmont. Stan wanted to protest but they made a good point by telling him that this place will give her more memories and sorrow. Stan sighed by that, but he let them.

Wendy wanted to talk to Mabel. She went to the attic room, where the twins' bedroom were. She entered the room and saw Mabel at her bed, staring at Dipper's bed across the room.

"Hey Mabel?" Wendy greeted her as she entered the room. But Mabel didn't answer her, let alone looking at her. She was in trance looking his brother's bed in front of her.

"Mabel? Hey, I wanna say tha-"

"Leave me alone." Mabel cut her off. Wendy suddenly was taken aback by that response.

"Mabel listen-"

"LEAVE ME ALONE! GET OUT!" Mabel shouted at her and shoved Wendy by her shoulder back. Wendy fell on to the ground. She was shocked by Mabel's action. But Wendy didn't say anything. She stood up and backed away until she was out from the room. She saw Mabel's eyes. It was nothing like she knew, it was full of hatred and sorrow.

Wendy looked away, turned around and went down the stairs. She couldn't process what just happened back there. She didn't even know what to feel. Is it angry? Is it remorse? Is it sympathy? She walked to the ladder which leading to the roof and climbed it. She went to her secret place to sit there for a while.

"Dipper, I promised you that I would take care of her. How could I? She's leaving… And she seems like… she's different." Wendy murmured. She didn't realized that tears went down her cheeks. "I need you Dipper, Mabel needs you. But now you're gone…" She covered her face with her hands, trying not to cry anymore.

After a while, she heard a car engine starting. She went over the side of the roof and took a peek. She saw Mabel's parents and Mabel were now in the car. Mr. Pines telling goodbye to Stan and Ford. She noticed Mabel was… emotionless. Then the car sped off, leaving Gravity Falls. Wendy didn't even have the chance to say goodbye.

It was the most horrible summer everyone in Gravity Falls.

* * *

It was one year after the incident. The Mystery Shack was still open, active as always. Everyone tried to not remember what happened before. The attic room now was a forbidden room. Stan gave out the instructions to everyone that if he ever found out anyone step into that room, he will personally fire that person. Everyone was okay with that.

It was a normal day, Wendy was still a part-time cashier, Soos fixing things around the Shack, Ford was now back in Nevada, continuing his research with his colleague, Fiddleford McGucket and Stan, still making sure the tourists trap attracts people. After the busy day, the Shack already nearing its end time. Wendy was preparing to lock the gifts shop and suddenly Stan called her.

"Wendy wait, can you stay here for a while?" Stan asked. He looked like he's in a hurry.

"Sure Stan, what's up? Are you getting new taxidermy from illegal supplier?"

"No, it's… Mabel. She's coming here." Stan nervously told her.

"W-wait, what?" Wendy was shocked by Stan's revelation.

"Yeah, and apparently, she'll be staying with me, for the rest of her life."

Wendy shook her head, trying to process what she just heard. "What?! Why?"

Stan sighed, "After a few months since the… incident, her mom and dad got into a big fights, and they sorta split up. Mabel's been leaving with her mother and the problem is, she told me that Mabel's been in a lot of troubles. She don't know what else to do, so she kinda figure out that she send her here." Stan explained to Wendy as they exited the Shack.

"What about her dad? Did he do something about it?" Wendy asked.

"My nephew? Heh, he's an asshole now. He became a total drunk and he didn't even bothered to keep in touch with his wife or daughter." Stan told her with fury flaming inside him.

"Oh my god…" Wendy covered her mouth hearing that. She was speechless. Mabel's been through horrible things. And it was only a year after the incident.

Stan began to enter his car and ignited the engine. "Wendy, stay here for a while okay? She's already on her way here and I need to wait for her at the bus station."

Wendy nodded and Stan closed the door, revved and sped away into the town. Wendy turned back to enter the Shack. She went back to the gifts shop and waited there.

* * *

She was fiddling with her phone, scrolling through EyeBook. She began to feel nervous to meet Mabel as the last time she met her, it was not that pretty. She tried to calm herself down and continued scrolling.

*RING*

The gifts shop's door opened, she began to curse herself as she forgot to lock the door.

"The shop's closed. Come back tomorrow." Wendy said as she stood up. She saw the figure, carrying a duffel bag, wearing a hoodie, a jeans and a familiar washed out blue cap. The figure then continued to walk towards the "EMPLOYEES ONLY" door where leads to the house section of the Shack.

"Hey, the shop's closed. And that door is for employees and family members only!" Wendy raised her voice a little bit.

The figure ignored Wendy and proceed to walk through the door.

"Hey, are you deaf?! I said-"

"I heard what you said, redhead! Just shut the hell up. Goddamnit." The figure snapped at Wendy. She was taken aback by that voice, but then, she slowly recognized it. _It can't be…_

"Ma-Mabel?" Wendy slowly approached the figure. The figure then turned around and stared at her. It was Mabel. She looked like she hasn't slept for a long time. There were couple of scars and bruises on her face.

"Oh my god, Mabel, what happened to your face?" Wendy held her shoulder but then been brushed off by Mabel.

"None of your business." Mabel then continued to crash through the door and climbed up the stairs. Wendy just froze there, looking at her with utter shock. _What happened to you Mabel?_

Wendy's phone vibrated in her pocket. She looked it up and saw that it was Stan who called her. She answered the phone.

"Hey Stan? Where are you?" Wendy asked.

"Wendy! I'm here at the station, but Mabel didn't show up." Stan told her in a distressed voice.

"She's here already. I thought you brought him here."

"What? Oh God that kid… Alright, alright. I'll be right back."

Stan hung up. Wendy pocketed his phone back. She decided to go upstairs to check on Mabel. Reaching the room, slowly, she knocked the door. She pushed the door slightly and took a peek. She saw Mabel was sitting on the bed, facing Dipper's bed. She entered the room.

"Hey, Mabel, how are you doing?" Wendy started the conversation. Sadly, she didn't respond. She just stared at the opposite bed in front of her with an emotionless eyes. Wendy sighed.

"Look, Mabes. I know things had been hard on you, but I want you to know that we'll be here for you. I'll be here for you." Wendy knelt in front of her and faced her face. Mabel suddenly glared back at Wendy, giving her a hatred look. Wendy started to furrow her brow, questioning what the hell is on her mind.

"Mabel, what is it? Just… tell me."

"Get out." Mabel said with a flat tone.

Wendy was confused. "Wh-what?"

"I said, GET OUT!" Mabel screamed at her face. Wendy immediately stood up and back away. Still shocked by her behavior, Wendy turned around and exited the room. She glanced back at Mabel and saw her still staring at Dipper's bed. She closed the door. She leaned at door and slowly slide down until she sat on the floor. Then, Wendy heard a sobbing came from inside the room. It was Mabel's. She was crying. Wendy frowned hearing her crying.

"Mabel? Wendy?" Wendy heard Stan calling from downstairs. She immediately went down and met her at the living room.

"There you are. Where's Mabel?" Stan worryingly asked her.

"She's upstairs… I think I she don't wanna be disturbed right now." Wendy hesitantly informed him. Stan ignored her and rushed to the stairs. Wendy just waited in the living room, sitting on the recliner. Then she heard Mabel screamed something and moments later, Stan came down. He looked shocked as Wendy before.

"I know that she's having a problem, but I never thought she would say something like that to me." Stan pulled out his glasses and rubbed his eyes to calm himself down. "I'm just, going to need a moment to think something out." Stan told Wendy as he passed through her into the kitchen.

Wendy, who still sitting on the recliner, thought about Mabel. _Mabel, what happened to you? Why did you become so… different?_ Wendy started to wipe her teary eyes. She decided to go home after that. It was a rough day for her.

* * *

Back in Mabel's room, she was still crying on her bed. She didn't know what went over her. She didn't mean to shout at Wendy and Grunkle Stan like that, but something consumed her. Her hatred and her sorrow. She tried to forget the horrible things that ever happened to her. She sat back up, rolled her sleeve and she stared at her arm. There were full of scars. Mabel sadly smiled, and proceed to take out a pocket knife in her duffel bag. She decided to start this gory habit months after her parents' divorce. This is the only way she ever found peace and calm.

 _Just a few,_ she thought to herself. She closed her eyes; the sensation was stronger that way. She held it up to her forearm, but hesitated; she thought about Dipper. She thought about how devastated he will be if he ever found out about this. She thought how he would feel if he ever found out…

With a violent shake of her head, she forced the opposing thoughts out of her mind and drew the blade across her skin out of impulse, calming herself down. She felt the corner of her eyes start to slightly burn as she let silent tears roll down her face. The feeling was overwhelming to her, yet satisfying. She did it again, and again, and again, until she felt she couldn't take it anymore. She fell on the floor crying, holding back the pain on her bloodied arm. She then pulled out a clean cloth from her duffel bag and a bandages to clean and wrapped the wound. After finishing wrapping her arm, she cleaned the knife, stuff it back into the duffel bag and shove the back below the bed. Mabel then went back to bed, crying herself to sleep.

* * *

 **I'm having a hard time creating Mabel with this kind of personality, but slowly I'll manage it.**

 **As always, if you read it, review it! If you like it, favorite and follow this story! If you don't like it, I don't care!...**

 **Just kidding, plz review, it means a lot to me.**

 **nY'X STY DTZW KFZQY.**


	4. Getting to Know Her Again (Pt 1)

**Alright people, here it is, time for another chapter; part 1.**

 **Yup, I decided to split certain chapter because I "accidentally" wrote it too long. Anyway, In Time is in progress and new chapter will be published this week. So, stay patience fellow readers.**

 **Let's get going with the story!**

* * *

 _How did I get here?_ Wendy's mind began to process the environment around her. She was in the forest, the same forest where she met Dipper years ago. She looked around and saw the same creek. Wendy began to walk towards it and slowly a figure emerged across the creek.

"Dipper?" Wendy called out. She wanted to get across but something held her back. She couldn't move. Dipper just smiled and walked across the creek. To her surprise, Wendy's legs began moving too towards him. Finally, both of them met at the middle of the creek. Wendy's eyes began to tear up as he saw Dipper's calm face.

"Dipper, what happened to Mabel?" Wendy began to ask.

"She took too much in her heart and she couldn't handle it. Wendy, remember your promise to me?" Dipper put his palm on Wendy's temple.

"Ye-yes, but… I can't do this without you Dipper." Wendy burst into tears. "She's so different, I can't…"

"Yes you can, she's still Mabel, and you need to get to know here once again. She's just hiding who she is. Deep down in her heart, she's still Mabel that we all loved and cared." Dipper commented.

Wendy just stared at Dipper's eyes. _Why did he look so calm and so sure about all of this?_ Wendy began to say something but Dipper cut her off.

"Wendy, I'll be always watching all of you, especially Mabel. I can't do anything because I didn't exist anymore. I'm counting on you."

Dipper then took a step back and slowly faded out from Wendy's sight. Wendy called out to him and wanted to hug him, but she couldn't move.

"Dipper, wait!"

* * *

Wendy opened her eyes. She bolted upright from her bed. She was panting and her eyes were filled with tears. She looked around and noticed that she was in her bedroom. She looked at the clock. It was 7 in the morning. Her shift started on 10, but she decided to go to the Shack to check out on Mabel and as well as taking breakfast there. She jumped off her bed, went to the bathroom to take a shower and get ready for the day. She put on the red flannel shirt, brown lumberjack hat, a jean and a boot.

As she drove her truck to the Shack, she thought of what Dipper had said in her dream. He wanted her to get to know her, in a way. But what can she do? Mabel seemed didn't want to talk to anyone. She's being defensive and passive. This bugged Wendy's mind. Soon, she realized she had reached the Shack. Entering the Shack through the gifts shop, she realized that she was really early. So, she made herself to the kitchen. She made a beeline through the living room when Stan bumped into her.

"Wendy you're…." Stan checked at his gold watch on his left wrist. "...early." Stan brows raised. "Okay, what are you doing here so early? I'm still not giving you a raise for coming this early." Stan questioned.

Wendy chuckled. "I'm just here early to check on Mabel. Is she up yet?"

Stan frowned when he heard that. "She don't wanna be disturbed." Stan stared at the stairs leading to the attic. "Listen, how about we go to the kitchen and get something to eat? Then you'll try bringing up some pancakes I've made." Stan invited her to take some breakfast. Wendy just followed him from behind entering the kitchen.

Stan began to make some pancakes while Wendy made some coffee. Both of them sat at the kitchen table to enjoy the breakfast. Stancakes wasn't the best pancakes Wendy ever eaten, but it's still good.

"Hey, uuhh. I need to talk to you about something." Stan put his fork down and shifted his seat a little bit.

"What is it about?" wendy slowly chewed her pancakes while looking at Stan.

"I need you to stay here for a while. And I mean live here, with us, with Mabel."

Wendy dropped her fork onto the plate and gazed at Stan. He tried to process what Stan had just said.

"Look, last night, during dinner, I went to her room to ask her to come down eat something. But she's just, kept to herself and didn't even budged from her bed. I… I don't know what else to do." Stan told Wendy about what happened last night. "And I thought that maybe you, since you're like their big sister since their first summer, I thought she could listen to you, or… make her come out from that shell she's in right now." Stan said while sighing.

 _Big sister since… their… first summer._ Wendy eyes welled with tears when she heard that. True that she was protective over the twins whenever they ventured into the forest, but she never thought about her being sort of a big sister for them. _Did Mabel always thought about me like that?_

Wendy wiped her eyes. "Stan, yes, I'll do it. Do you have any extra room?"

Stan cracked a smile hearing Wendy's agreement. "No, I don't have extra room. You don't mind sleeping with Mabel right?"

"I don't know about that. She seems… she seems like she don't want me to talk to her. But I'll try." Wendy rubbed her neck and nervously said.

"Alright! Then it's a deal. You'll get back home to take some of your belongings and come back here as soon as you can!" Stan stood up and picked up his plate and empty cup.

"But, what about work?" Wendy asked.

"Nah, I'm not in the mood for any tours today. Besides, you're moving in, for a while."

Wendy slammed his fists on the table. "Okay, who are you and what have you done with Stan?" Both of them laughed. "Alright, I'm going to take the breakfast for Mabel, then I'll go home to pick up my things."

Wendy took some of the pancakes and a glass of orange juice and proceed to take it upstairs for Mabel. She hoped that Mabel would eat it, even if just a little bite. She knocked on the door before entering.

"Mabel? It's me, Wendy. I brought some breakfast."

No answer.

Wendy sighed. "Alright, either you like it or not, I'm coming in."

She pushed the door with her side body. She saw that Mabel was sitting on the floor, flipping through her Summer Scrapbook. _Oh no…_ Wendy began to worry.

"Mabel? Here, I brought something to eat. It's Stancakes with orange juice." Wendy began to put the plate and the glass on the floor beside Mabel and sat down with her. Wendy stared at Mabel. She looked… totally different. From her clothing to her hairstyle. She wore a dark blue hoodie, a jean and a washed out sneakers. Her hair wasn't like before, she pulled a ponytail and she seemed to cut it off a little bit. She also noticed a blue washed out cap with a pine tree logo on it hung on the corner of the bed.

"Mabel, you got to eat something. Stan told me you didn't eat anything since last night." Wendy pleaded.

"Why would you care?" Mabel asked while flipping through the scrapbook, not looking at her.

"Because I'm your friend." Wendy reply with a smile.

Mabel's eyes lifted to her just a bit, then went back to look at the scrapbook.

Wendy began to groan. "Look dude, I'm not leaving this room until you eat something."

Mabel glared at Wendy. She looked like she was irritated by her. She began to slam her scrapbook, slide it below the bed and stood up. She went to the door to go out but suddenly Wendy blocked her from getting out.

"Not until you eat those." Wendy pointed at the plate and the glass still on the floor. Mabel breathe an annoying sigh. She turned around and picked the plate and the glass from the floor and proceeded to sit at the table near Dipper's bed. She began eating the pancakes and drinking the orange juice. Wendy was surprised how fast she was eating, she was truly hungry but didn't want to admit it.

"You're really hungry aren't you?" Wendy snickered. She went on to sit on Dipper's bed. It was… comfy and she felt a sudden presence, some sort of calm and serene feeling coming out from the bed. It was Dipper's.

"Don't sit on that bed." Mabel glared at Wendy. She was startled by her voice, it was filled with anger.

Wendy sighed. "Mabel, if you got something to say to me, just spill it out. I'm here for you."

"No, I got nothing to say." She stood up, snatched the cap on the bed and went out from the room. Wendy began to chase her downstairs. "Mabel wait!" She ignored Wendy and continued to storm out from the Shack. Wendy ran out to her, but tripped a little bit on the porch. She got up and managed to grip her wrist.

"Listen here Mabel. I'm not letting you go anywhere without my watch. You practically worried me and Stan already, so let's not make anyone else worry about you shall we?" Wendy said with a stern voice.

Mabel began to pull her hand away from Wendy's grip, but Wendy held it tighter. "Let me go! You're hurting me!" Mabel cried out. Wendy realized that her grip began to get tighter and immediately released her hand.

Mabel glared at Wendy. "Stay away from me." Mabel began to walk through the dirt road leading to the town. But, Wendy still didn't give up. She turned around and went to her truck. She drove it until she met again with Mabel who was walking down the dirt path. She slow her truck and strolled beside her.

She opened the window and poked out her head a little bit to talk to Mabel. "Hey, I'm sorry about just now. Listen, I'll give you a lift to wherever you wanna go." Mabel still ignoring her.

"The town is a couple of miles away. It would take you like, 30 minutes to get to there on foot. Come on man." Wendy once again pleaded to the girl she used to know to take her ride. Mabel suddenly stopped on her track and stared at Wendy. Wendy immediately braked her truck. Both of them stared at each other and finally, Mabel rolled her eyes and began to walk around the truck and entered the truck. Wendy felt relieve inside her that Mabel finally acknowledge her plead. She began to drive towards the town. She thought that she would pack her belongings from home after settling with whatever Mabel wanted to do.

"So, where do you wanna go?" Wendy started to ask.

"Convenience store." Mabel said with a flat tone.

"Okay, you're the boss." She turned her head a little bit to look at her. Mabel was hanging her head down and she was stroking her right arm like holding back an itchiness.

"You know, I missed your colorful sweaters. Why didn't you wear them anymore?"

"I didn't feel like wearing it anymore."

Wendy inspect her hoodie. She recognized that hoodie, it was the hoodie Dipper used to wear it during their third summer. It was Wendy who gave it to him as his birthday present before the summer ends. She frowned when she remembered that. She turned her eyes straight back to the road.

"So, can I ask you how you were before coming here?"

"I don't want to talk about it." Mabel shot up.

"Yes you do. And what's with that bruises and scars on your face?" Wendy commented back.

"It's nothing."

"Oh, it's nothing. I don't know about that because that kind of bruises and scars only happened if you're involved in a fight."

"Why are you being so nosy?" Mabel was annoyed by Wendy. She wished that she hasn't get in the truck with her in the first place.

"Why?" Wendy asked back. "You didn't call me, Stan or Soos for almost a year. And you didn't bother reply me or e-mailed me back even though I sent it." She was pretty frustrated and quite sad when Mabel did like that, but she can't blame her. She needed to know first what happened to Mabel.

Wendy say that Mabel was glaring her. "Mabel, I don't know what else to say but-"

"Then don't say it." Mabel voice cut her off. She then turned her head away to the window side. Wendy sighed. "Dipper, I can't do this…" Wendy murmured to herself.

The trip to town was then filled with silence. Neither Wendy nor Mabel talked to each other anymore.

* * *

"So what do you want?" Wendy asked while following Mabel in the convenience store. She wasn't so sure what she wanted as she looked at her searching for something.

"Nothing." Mabel told her.

"Then why do we even bother to come here?"

"I didn't asked you to come here." Mabel stare at Wendy. "Just, leave me be." She walked away from Wendy.

Wendy just stood there, looking at Mabel. She groaned and decided to wait for her at the cashier where one of her friend, Lee worked there.

"Wendyyyy! Good to see you man. What brings you here to my humble abode?" Lee asked.

"Hey Lee. Nah, just bringing Mabel here. She wanted to buy some stuff." Wendy leaned at the cashier table while took some of the snack bar and ate it.

Lee raised a brow. "Wait, did you said Mabel? As in Mabel Pines? The one that was involved in an accident and her brother died?" Wendy just nodded. "Just, don't mentioned that to her. She didn't want to hear that." Lee understood that and he continued to man up the register.

A few minutes later, Mabel came back with a few things. There were bandages, some ointment, and a band-aid. Wendy was curious of why she needed that when Stan had a lot of first-aid kit lying around in the Shack.

"What do you need that for?" Wendy curiously asked.

"Nothing important." Mabel answered her. She began to stack the things at the register and Lee began to scan the items one by one. Suddenly, Wendy heard a voice called out behind her. "Wendy!" She turned around and saw Robbie, her ex-boyfriend.

"What are you doing here?" he asked Wendy.

"What? I can't come to the store to buy some things?" Wendy shot back in an irritated tone. She hated him after she found out that Robbie has been bullying Dipper a few years back. That one time, Dipper came home with a bloodied face and bruises on his face. When Mabel, Stan and Wendy asked him what happened, he just told them that he dealt with Robbie and they have nothing to worry about. Wendy immediately rushed to Robbie's house and to demand some explanation.

* * *

 _"What the hell did you do to Dipper?" Wendy screamed at Robbie's face._

 _"The Dipshit? You know what I did? I beat the crap out of him." Robbie coldly said._

 _Wendy eyes widened. She slapped Robbie's face. Robbie was shocked from what she had done._

 _"What was that for?" Robbie asked._

 _"You're an asshole you know that? You're just jealous because I spend more time wih him rather than you."_

 _"Yeah, if you noticed that he's trying to steal you from me!"_

 _"No goddamnit!" Wendy snapped. "We're done. It's over. I'm breaking up with you." She turned around and leave Robbie's house._

* * *

Wendy felt fury boiling inside of her remembering that, but she let it slide. She stared at Robbie, who was still with his emo style which she hated so much. Wendy then noticed Mabel started to leave the store and she went after her.

"Who's that? Your new boyfriend?" _Robbie, please don't start it here._ Wendy silently groaned.

"Aahhh. I see, you moved on. After that Dipshit died you seemed to-"

 ***SMACK***

A fist landed on Robbie's face, making him stumble onto the floor. Mabel picked him up and grab him by his hoodie.

"You don't talk shit about my brother, YOU UNDERSTAND THAT?!" Mabel cried out at his face. Wendy noticed that Robbie's face became pale. He wasn't expecting the guy was to be Dipper's twin sister. She also noticed blood trickled from his nose. He immediately nodded and Mabel threw him back on the floor and exited the store. Wendy followed suit.

"Gee Mabel, I don't know you can land a punch like that." Wendy landed her hand on Mabel's shoulder. However, she brushed her hand away. "You know nothing." Mabel then proceed to enter her truck. Wendy frowned at her remarks. But she brushed it off. _Mabel, don't do this to yourself._

* * *

Before returning to the Shack, Wendy told her that she needed to pack some things from her home. Mabel just shrugged. "Sure, whatever." The truck then stopped in front of Wendy's cabin.

"Hey, you wanna stay here or come inside with me?" Wendy asked. Mabel stared at her for a while and she shifted her seat and opened the door. She got out from the truck. Somehow, that made Wendy smiled. Maybe she began to loosen up a little bit. She went out, locked the truck and headed to the cabin's entrance. Mabel just followed her from behind.

There were no one in the cabin. Her dad and her three brothers all went to Portland where her cousin's logging camp was for a month. Wendy thought this was a perfect plan as she can stay at the Shack without her dad worrying about her. She turned around to see Mabel was leaning at the front door.

"Hey, make yourself at home." Wendy told Mabel. Mabel slowly nodded and went to the kitchen. Wendy proceed to her room and packed all the necessary things she needed to stay at the Shack. One large bagpacks later, she stepped outside her room and went to the kitchen to see what Mabel's up too. She was surprised to see two cup of tea was made for Mabel and her.

"Mabel, did you make this tea?" Wendy asked. Mabel just shrugged while sipping her cup. She then pushed the cup towards Wendy a little bit. Wendy then sat onto the chair and put the bapacks beside the kitchen table. She took a sip at the tea and it felt wonderful. Mabel hasn't lost her touch of magic yet. It wasn't Mabel Juice, but this tea will suffice. Mabel then noticed a large bagpacks beside her and asked.

"What's that for?"

Wendy shifted her eyes and looked at Mabel. She put down the cup.

"Stan asked me to move in with you guys for a while." Wendy nervously told her. She wasn't so sure how Mabel will take that.

Mabel stared back at her for a while and shrugged. "Just don't sleep on Dipper's bed." Wendy had thought she would say that. She needed to do something. She didn't want to offend Mabel anymore. She looked at the time. It was 9:30 a.m. _Soos usually at the Shack at this time, and looks like I'm gonna ask for his break room._

After finishing the tea, Wendy went over to wash the cup and put it in the shelf. She made sure that all the door and the windows in the house were locked. Suddenly she remembered something. Wendy ran into her room and went for the drawer. She dug out something from the drawer and pulled it out. It was the diamonds Dipper gave it to her two years ago. It came in pairs. Wendy smiled and shoved it into her pocket jeans.

After all the doors and the windows were locked, Wendy exited the cabin and locked the front door. Mabel was waiting at the truck, leaning against the door. Wendy noticed that she was still stroking her right arm. _What is wrong with her arm? She looked kinda nervous or something._ Wendy again, was curious by her behavior. She then called out to Mabel to enter the truck and both of them were on their way back to the Shack.

* * *

 **End of part 1. Next we will see how Wendy get settled in at the Shack and we will explore more on Mabel's life before coming back to Gravity Falls after the incident.**

 **As usual, review if you like, favorite if you find it worthwhile your time and follow if you find this story interesting!**


	5. Getting to Know Her Again (Pt 2)

**Here it is! Part 2 of the previous chapter. Currently I'm suffering writer's block in finishing In Time, but I'll try to finish it in this week. So, without further ado,**

 **Happy reading!**

 **WARNING: This chapter contain abuse and violence. Reader discretion has already been advised. It's rated T for a reason.**

* * *

Entering the Shack, Mabel immediately ran upstairs into her room and slammed shut the door. Wendy just shook her head watching her like that. She became… so introverted. She then remembered that she wanted to see Soos, so Wendy looked for her at the monster museum. True to her, she found him fixing the lightbulb.

"Hey Soos." Wendy greeted him.

"Hey there Wendy! I heard Mabel's back." Soos said as he smiled looking at Wendy.

"Yeah, that's true. She's quite different now."

Soos nodded. "Sometimes, a tragedy can change a person into someone that they used to know." Soos said in a wisdom tone.

Wendy was stuck in a gaze at that statement. "Look, I need your help."

"Hold on a minute dude, I think I got this." Soos slowly twirled his screwdriver at the lightbulb and the lightbulb stopped flickering. He then get down from the ladder and adjusted his cap. "What is it dude? Any help I can give, is a blessing for them."

"I need to use your break room. You know, the one Ford left after he moved out to Nevada?"

"Aaahh, sure man. But what is it for?"

"Stan asked me to move in into the Shack for a while. Mabel seems like… not being herself. She won't allow me to sleep with her in the room. Dipper's bed is totally forbidden, if you know what I mean." Soos nodded. "So, Soos. Can you help me, for the sake of helping her?"

"Sure Wendy. Mabel needs us. I don't usually use that break room anymore." Soos stuck his hand into his pocket and pulled out a set of keys. "Here's the key to the room." Soos handed the key to Wendy.

Wendy was delighted when Soos agreed to give her the break room. "Thank you so much man."

Soos once again nodded. "No problem hambone."

Suddenly Stan called Soos out. "Soos! I need you to help me find my pants!"

"Coming Mr. Pines!" Soos yelled out back at Stan who was in his room at the attic. "Looks like I needed elsewhere. See you later Wendy!" Soos then turned around and vanished into the dark shadows of the Shack's hallway.

Wendy headed back outside to her truck to pick up her bagpacks. She proceeded to go to the break room to get settled in. Using the key given by Soos, Wendy unlocked the door and enter the room. It was messy. There are papers and files everywhere and the bed are messy. There was an old grandfather clock, a long couch beside it and a dusty window. She needed to clean this room before settled in properly.

* * *

Mabel stuffed all her things she bought back at the convenience store into her duffel bag. There were reason why Mabel bought these stuffs. She didn't want to take Stan's first-aid kit because that would make him suspicious of later constant disappearing of bandages and ointment. She still felt the itchiness on her arm, the urge to feel the cold knife against her skin, she tried to resist the feeling. She moved her hand to her stomach and her thigh to feel the scars she had made with the pencil sharpener's razor before she had a knife. She was debating in her mind. She couldn't help it. All this sorrow and anger she felt, she needed something as a release and no one could understand it. She sighed. She zipped her duffel bag and slide in below the bed.

She laid down onto her bed, thinking about her brother, thinking about the accident, thinking about her parents, thinking about herself. How did she changed from a very cheerful person to this… gloomy, introverted, self-harmed girl? Mabel looked over to Dipper's bed across the room. She missed him, she missed talking to him. She missed teasing him, poking him and laughing with him. She tried to forget all the horrible things that happened to her in a short time. Her father left her and her mother and one day came home drunk…

Mabel closed her eyes in effort to not remember it. Sadly, how hard she tried, she still remembered…

* * *

 _A loud knocking on the front door awoke Mabel. She looked at the time, it was 2 in the morning. Then she heard a loud screaming from the outside._

 _"Martha! Open this goddamn door!" Damien yelled, calling her wife. Mabel came out of her room and slowly went down the stairs. She was afraid, but ready for the worst. It wasn't the first time her dad had been like this. Since Dipper's death, everybody in the house changed. Her dad became an alcoholic and left them, her mother suffered from depression and Mabel can only try to survive in this insane house. Every time he came home drunk, Mabel was the one who endured all the abuse. She will take whatever she still can even it means protecting her mother._

 _She slowly crept to the front door, the banging on the door became louder and louder. She extend her hand to the door knob when suddenly her mother pulled her away from the door._

 _"Go to your room and don't come out." Martha warned Mabel._

 _Mabel shook in disagreement. "No mom, you'll get hurt."_

 _"Just. Go." Her mother once again pushed her to the stairs, forcing her to go upstairs to her room. Mabel ran upstairs, but didn't enter her room yet. She poked her head a little bit from the stairs to witness the commotion. She saw her mother twisted the door knob and pulled open the door. Her father then aggressively pushed it and slammed it shut._

 _"I told you to open the door! Where the fuck have you been?"_

 _"Damien, I warned you not to come back here. You have no reason to come here at all!"_

 _"You forgot something, this is my home too. I can come home whenever the fuck I want." Damien scowled at her. He then lifted his head to the stairs and noticed Mabel was watching._

 _"You!" He pointed his finger to Mabel. "If it wasn't for you, my boy wouldn't be dead today!" He stormed upstairs to grab Mabel. Frightened. She immediately ran into the room and closed the door. Unfortunately, Mabel didn't have the chance to lock it. Damien pushed the door violently causing Mabel to stump backward onto the floor._

 _"Dad, please. Don't…" Mabel pleaded to her father, but he didn't cared. He grabbed Mabel by her hand and pulled her._

 ** _*SMACK*_**

 _A slap landed onto Mabel's face. She fell down again. She was whimpering and crying. She pleaded again as her father pulled her again._

 _"Dad, please, I'm sorry…"_

 ** _*SMACK*_**

 _Mabel fell down again. Her cheek was red, her eyes were pretty bruised and her lips were cut by the hard smack. She pushed herself backward until she hit the wall of her room. She saw her mother ran into the room and grabbed Damien away from her, but inevitably failed as he pushed her down. Sudden strength made Mabel stood and ran after her mother who was on the floor._

 _"You're going nowhere you little bitch!" Damien's hand landed again, this time on Mabel's temple, causing her to fall hard, hitting the table and later a mirror fell onto her. The shards of glass from the table lamp cut deep into her left cheek. She screamed in pain._

 _Damien panicked. He was trembling when he saw blood gushing out of Mabel's cheek. He turned around and stormed out of the house. Martha saw what happened ran to Mabel who was still screaming in agony. Martha calmed her down and called an ambulance to her house._

 _Mabel received a good 7 stitches on her left cheek and the doctor said that the scar will be permanent. That was the day Mabel changed. She transformed into someone else. She kept herself in her room most of the day except went out for food and school, she ditched all her sweaters and wore hoodie, cut her hair shorter and tied it into a ponytail. At school, her friends were worried on her sudden change. She was not this hyperactive, extrovert girl. Ever since Dipper's death, she tried her best to keep a remnant of what she was. But that scar took a toll on her. Since that fateful night, she kept to herself, scowled if anyone tried to come near her and occasionally being in a fight with either boys or girls who talk behind her about her or her brother._

 _The school called her mother, telling her about Mabel's excessive behavior. Martha decided to send her back to Gravity Falls. Martha called Stan and talked about him about what happened. Stan was quite shock but he understood what needed to be done. Martha made him promise to keep quiet about what happened to himself and not to tell anyone else. Stan promised. She informed Stan that she will be in Gravity Falls in two more days. Mabel didn't want to go but Martha convinced her otherwise. She will be safe there from Damien. She will be fine there. Mabel protested but she obeyed her will eventually._

* * *

Mabel felt her cheek wet, her tears had went down again. She's tired of being like this. But she couldn't help it, all this time, she was alone. Nobody would understand her. Wendy, Soos, or Stan. Maybe Wendy tried her best to get along with her back, but Mabel didn't have a heart to trust anyone anymore.

Mabel felt her right arm, the scars she made. She couldn't resist it. Usually the little voice in her head changed her mind about giving in, but this time it was on her side, telling her that it wasn't a big deal. She took out her knife in her pocket, held it to her wrist, and slowly started to drag it across. The sensation she felt, the calm and relief, even if it was just a while. She took another drag across her arm until-

 ***KNOCK. KNOCK***

Mabel gasped and spun her head around at the door, she quickly threw the knife under the bed not bothering to clean it off and rolled back her sleeve. Then, the door creaked open.

"Mabel? You in there?"

It was Wendy. She poked her head a little bit into the room. Mabel tried to hide her arm beside her leg. Wendy was looking at her with a curiosity on her face.

"Are you alright Mabel?" Wendy asked.

Mabel just nodded. "I'm fine, go away." Her voice started to tremble from the pain on her arm. Wendy started to notice something's wrong.

"No, you're not." Wendy pushed open the door and let herself in. She approached Mabel.

"I said I'm fine. Now get out!" Mabel tried to get rid of her, but it won't work anymore because Wendy's eyes was fixated on her right arm.

"What's that?" Wendy asked her. She looked over and saw a thick red lines seeping through her dark blue sweater sleeve. She immediately shifted uncomfortably.

"It's nothing." Mabel tried to dodge it, but Wendy kept coming closer and finally, she saw it. A blood trickling onto her bed sheet. Wendy looked dead into Mabel's eyes.

"Mabel, show me your arm." Wendy commanded. Mabel didn't comply. She tried to hide her trembling, but it was too obvious to Wendy now.

"Mabel…" Wendy tugged her arm and Mabel yelped. Wendy slowly rolled her sleeve, inch by inch, before she saw the red lines of blood deep in her skin. She was frozen and shocked.

"Oh, Mabel…" She looked up at her to see that Mabel had turned her face away, trying to hide her tears welled up in her eyes. Wendy couldn't help herself; she broke down and cried. Mabel looked back at her in surprise.

"How could you do this to yourself?" Wendy asked her demandingly. "How long have you been doing this?"

She hesitated before trying to answer it. "Months… after mom and dad split up…" Mabel chocked trying to tell her that. She couldn't understand why Wendy would care for her anymore.

Wendy wiped her tears away. "And that?" Wendy pointed to her the scar on the cheek. Mabel immediately turned her face over to hide it.

"Mabel, you couldn't hide it anymore. I saw that scar since yesterday. That scar is not your doing isn't it?" Wendy voice started to rise. Mabel slowly turned her face back again and stared her into her eyes. Wendy noticed that tears had fell down her cheeks.

"Tell me Mabel, who did this?" Wendy asked once again, in a gentle tone.

"…. Dad…" Mabel's voice trembled as she told her. That answer made Wendy froze. She immediately stood, took Mabel's hand and stormed out of the room. Mabel didn't do anything accept being dragged on with her bloodied arm. She tried to stop Wendy but she kept dragging her down the stairs.

* * *

Stan and Soos were in the kitchen, sipping a cup of coffee after a long day of fixing the sink. Stan was enjoying his coffee and suddenly-

"STAN!" Wendy shouted from the stairs. Stan jolted a little bit, spilling his coffee onto the table. He immediately set the cup down, and ran to the stairs. He then saw Wendy was gripping Mabel's wrist and being dragged down the stairs.

"Wendy please, don't tell him." Mabel pleaded. Wendy tugged her hand a little bit until she finally came face to face with Stan.

"What the heck is going on here?" Stan asked.

"This." Wendy rolled Mabel's sleeve. "This is what's going on." Wendy showed her the scars and the cut still fresh with blood seeping out of it. Stan was shocked.

"Stan, are you hiding something from me?" Wendy demandingly asked.

"No, I don't. I don't know about these scars…"

"Then you knew about this scars." Wendy showed him Mabel's scar on her cheek. Stan's eyes widened as he saw the scar.

"Mabel told me, her dad made this. Is that true Stan?"

"Well I made a promise to her mother-" Wendy cut her off before Stan tried to explain.

"NO! I don't care who you made promise to, but you shouldn't kept me in the dark. She needed help, and I was here. But you didn't tell me everything about what's going on." Wendy then pulled Mabel into the kitchen. Soos, who was standing in the kitchen, was shocked by what had happened.

Wendy put Mabel down the chair and rolled her sleeve. She took the first-aid kit from the top shelf and proceed to take out bandages, gauze, disinfectant and ointment. "Soos, help me out." Soos complied and helped Wendy patched Mabel's arm.

Stan came into the kitchen and once again tried to explain. "Wendy. Yes, it's my fault that I didn't tell you. But I'd promised her mother that I won't tell anyone. And I kept a promise… But the scars on her arm, that, I didn't even know."

Wendy turned around, facing Stan. "Stan, I really, really wanna help your niece. But you need to tell me and Soos what the hell is going on with her life before she came here!" Wendy snapped.

Stan sighed. "Fine. But not here. In the living room. Fixed Mabel up first then we'll talk." Stan turned around and made a beeline to the living room.

Soos was already finishing fixing Mabel's arm as Wendy turned to them. Mabel rolled back her sleeve and sat there silently. Wendy sighed and went to the fridge and took out a carton of orange juice. She poured it in the glass and served it to Mabel.

"Here, drink up." Wendy gave her the glass with a smile. Mabel just took it and drank it without lifting her head to see Wendy. "Stay here for a while, okay Mabel?" Wendy told Mabel, but she didn't complied.

Wendy then tapped Soos's hand as a sign to follow her into the living room.

Once in the living room, Wendy and Soos sat with Stan at the table across the room. Stan took a deep breath before telling them what had happened. Their parents splitting up, her sudden abusive father, Mabel's behavior at school and lastly, how she got the scar. Soos's jaw gapped as he listened to Stan's revelation while Wendy was teared up hearing it. She couldn't believe the horrible things she had endured in just a year after Dipper's death. It took a toll on everyone in her family.

She pushed herself away and ran back into the kitchen where Mabel was. She was still sitting at the kitchen table while staring blankly at the half-empty glass filled with orange juice. She turned around to see Wendy was walking towards her. Without warning, Wendy threw her arms around Mabel and hugged her. Mabel was surprised at Wendy's action. She struggled to push her away, but she also felt that she needed this. She haven't felt this kind of warmth for a while. Mabel then hugged her back and squeezed Wendy back. She needed this. She wouldn't wanna let go.

"It's okay, I'm here, we're all here for you. Everything's gonna be fine." Wendy stroked her back as she comforting Mabel. "We'll figure something out." Wendy reassured her.

Mabel closed her eyes as she felt the calm and warmth in Wendy's hug. That's all she needed now, a calm and warmth in someone's hug.

* * *

That night, Wendy decided to move into the attic room as Mabel allowed her to sleep on Dipper's bed. Luckily, she didn't cleaned the break room that much as she was too lazy to do it. That's why Wendy went upstairs to see Mabel to ask for her help. But things turned out to be different as she stepped into the room. And here she was, in the Twins bedroom. Wendy was settling in at Dipper's side while Mabel changed her attires into her usual nightwear; oversized long sleeve t-shirt and a short pants. Mabel was watching Wendy tidied up the bed.

"Wendy…" Mabel called. Wendy turned around and looked at Mabel.

"Yeah Mabel?" Wendy smiled at her. She was waiting for Mabel to say something back but she kept staring at her.

"What is it?" Wendy asked. Mabel seemed hesitant to say another word.

"Good night Wendy." Mabel turned around and laid on the bed, pulling in the blanket.

Wendy sighed. "Good night Mabel." She said back. She proceeded to go change to her nightwear; a black tank top and a gray short with long cuffs. Wendy laid on the bed, she turned around to switch off the light and noticed Mabel was sleeping peacefully at her bed. She closed her eyes. Wendy felt Dipper's presence while lying on it. It's just like he was lying beside her.

"Dipper, help me through with this." Wendy murmured. She began to fade into sleep as the night passed on.

* * *

 **Boom! Mabel's starting to soften up, but not so fast! We will see Pacifica soon, and will they Mabel forgive her? But forgive her for what? What did Pacifica wronged?**

 **As usual, review if you like, favorite if you find it worthwhile and follow if you find this story interesing!**


	6. Making Amends (Pt 1)

**Hello again. I'm so sorry for the delay. I didn't mean it. Writer's block is really a disease and I can't help it. Eventually I pushed myself and here it is! The first part of the chapter. It was freaking long and I didn't even noticed it.**

 **And for a little announcement, In Time is still in delay. I know I've promised you guys that new chapter will be out last week. But... uhh... I'm more invested in this story at the time. So, bare with me.**

 **Also, I wanna thank an anonymous ready who goes by the name of... "05060403" (what?) that sent me his drawing of interpretation of my broken Mabel. Thank you so much.**

 **Without further ado, let's get this story going!**

* * *

Wendy opened her eyes after hearing a voice mumbling across the room. She turned her head to the left and to see what was the noise coming from. Then, she heard the voice clearly. It was Mabel's.

"Dipper… Sorry… Don't leave… me…" Mabel mumbling in her sleep. Wendy realized she was having a nightmare. She jumped off from the bed and went over to Mabel's bed where she slept. Gently, she shook Mabel to wake her up.

"Mabel, wake up. Mabel..." Wendy called out Mabel.

"DIPPER!" Mabel suddenly jolted upright. Wendy was startled by her sudden awake. However, Wendy remained calm and tried to comfort her.

"You okay sis?" Wendy asked her. Mabel was breathing heavily and her eyes were watery. She was trembling and she looked around her frantically. Wendy tried to calm her down the best she can.

"Hey, hey. It's just a nightmare. Calm down." Wendy comforted her. Mabel stared into her eyes. She then blinked, making her watery eyes dropped down her cheek. She was about to say something but then she shut her mouth tight back. Mabel then just turned around, pulled her blanket and laid back to sleep. Wendy was unsure whether to talk to her or not. She tried anyway.

"Mabel, are you alright?" Wendy asked while landing her hand on one of her shoulder.

"I'm fine." Mabel said while turning around to face the wall and tugged her blanket to cover herself more. Wendy knew that's her que to not bother her anymore. She stood back and returned to her bed. When Wendy laid back on the bed, she can heard Mabel's sobbing. This made Wendy uneasy since she wanted to know what's been bugging Mabel. After a while, Mabel's sob stopped and the night remained calm and quiet once again.

* * *

It was morning. The birds were chirping on the rooftop of the Shack, the skies was bright blue and the sun was already up shining the world with its brightness. Mabel was awaken when the light shined into her face through the window of the attic room. She groaned and was irritated that someone or somewhat had to disturb her slumber morning. She rolled around the bed in searching new spots for her to sleep but to no avail, the sun was shining onto her and she blamed the opened window.

"Bro-bro, close the stupid window, I'm trying to…" Mabel silence herself from her grumbled. That is when she opened her eyes and sat straight. She stared blankly across the room and saw an empty bed. Mabel then remembered that it wasn't Dipper who was sleeping on that bed, it was Wendy. She looked at the time and it was 9 in the morning. Mabel decided to go take a shower.

In the bathroom, Mabel slip out her hoodie, undershirt and her jeans, leaving the undergarments. Mabel looked at the mirror, seeing her body filled with couple of bruises, burn marks and scars. She didn't know how she got all these marks, maybe from her dad and her fights at the school. She gripped her fist tightly remembering that. Why can't people leave her alone? She just wanted to be alone, but people kept finding ways to screw with her. She shook her head to get it off her mind. Mabel quickly took a quick shower and left the bathroom.

Back in the attic room, Mabel pulled her duffel bag and pulled out a red t-shirt and a pair of fresh jeans. She wore it and finally put on her usual dark blue hoodie. She tied her hair into a ponytail and put on a washed out pine tree cap onto her head. Mabel pushed the bag below the bed and she searched for the knife she threw yesterday. She couldn't found it. She began to feel agitated. She can't stand that sensation if she didn't do it at least once a day. Mabel immediately left the room and went down.

* * *

"You want some Stancakes?" Stan, who was now in full suit, asked Wendy who was eating a bowl of cereal. She was up since 8 in the morning and she decided to head down early because Stan wanted to open up the shop and making tours today.

"Pass." Wendy replied as she read today's newspaper. The Gravity Falls Gossiper doesn't always have good news but when she saw an article about The Northwest are organizing a Festival at the town tonight, she was interested. Maybe she could take Mabel tonight and cheer her up, getting her minds off the problems. Wendy then heard someone entered the kitchen. She knew it was Mabel. Turning her head to see her, Wendy's jaw dropped a little bit.

"What?" Mabel asked Wendy as she stared at her like she saw a ghost. Truthfully, Wendy did not saw a ghost, but rather an apparition of Dipper. Mabel tucked her hair neatly inside the cap, the dark blue hoodie with jeans and sneaker made Wendy's eyes blown. She stared Mabel from head to toe to make sure she wasn't seeing a ghost.

"N-Nothing." Wendy cleared her throat. "Come on, sit down. Stan make pancakes." Wendy invited her to sit together. Mabel went over the table and sat across Wendy. She took some pancakes and poured some orange juice. Wendy noticed while eating Mabel seemed agitated. She kept rubbing her arm and Wendy knew what she was looking for. Wendy pulled out the knife from her pocket and put it on table.

"Looking for this?" Wendy asked while showing the knife. Mabel's eyes widened as she saw the knife. She tried to take it but Wendy pulled it quickly before she fetched it.

"Uh-uh. I'm keeping this knife. From now on, you're stopping that toxic habit." Wendy sternly said to Mabel.

"But that's my knife!" Mabel exclaimed as she slammed her fist onto the table. Wendy glared back at Mabel and Mabel did the same.

"Alright, alright. Break it up." Stan interrupted as he pulled himself a chair. "Wendy, hand me that knife. I'm keeping it." Stan gestured his hand to Wendy as a sign to give it to him. Wendy just complied and gave it to him.

"But Grunkle Stan, that's my knife… that's… that's Dipper's." Mabel voice started to crack as she held back the tears from coming out from his eyes. She then pushed herself from the table and ran outside. Wendy and Stan frowned as they saw her running from the kitchen.

"I'll go talk to her." Wendy said as she walked out from the kitchen. Stan sighed a frustration and continued to try to enjoy his pancakes he made before opening up his business.

* * *

Wendy searched for Mabel around the Shack, but she couldn't find her. She then saw a track leading into the forest. She followed the tracks deeper into the forest. Wendy then knew the path these tracks headed and she began to walk through the path and it ended up at a familiar creek. She then saw Mabel squatting near the edge of the creek, throwing a rock into the water.

"Hey short stack." Wendy called out her given nickname by herself. Mabel ignored her. She kept throwing rocks. Wendy went and sat beside her. She looked at Mabel and saw sadness in her eyes.

"I remember this place." Wendy said. Mabel lifted her head a little bit looking towards her.

"It was two years ago, after Dipper gave me that diamonds, I asked him where he got it. I mean, it's diamonds, and diamonds tend to be super expensive. He didn't wanna tell me first, but I kept pressuring him until at one point, he just gave up and took me here." Wendy told Mabel. Mabel began to turn her body around and faced Wendy. She was interested in what Wendy was revealing.

"Then, we spent a couple of hours here, playing with the water and searching for more diamonds. And…." Wendy cracked a smile. "There is where he confessed to me about his feelings, again." Wendy pointed out to the middle of the creek, just like in her dream where both of them stood.

"I know that we've talked about it before during our first summer…" Wendy chuckled a little bit before continuing. "…but, you know, years passed on and he's kinda cute and matured." Wendy looked at Mabel. Her jaw gapped a little bit hearing it.

"You accepted him?" Mabel asked.

"Well, I gave him a chance. He handled me pretty well." Wendy smiled looking at Mabel's curiousness. Mabel began to smile back. That is the first time she smiled ever since she stepped her foot in Gravity Falls.

"Of course he handled you pretty well, Wendy. He always wanted you, not anyone... else…" Mabel started to frown again. Something was bugging her mind again. Wendy brows began to furrow her brows looking at her sudden change of expressions.

"What is it Mabel?" Wendy asked.

"It's nothing." Mabel turned around and stared at the water again.

"Can I have my knife again?" Mabel asked Wendy.

"I don't have it Mabes, Stan has it. Besides, I won't gave it to you if you ask me."

"But it's Dipper's." Mabel exclaimed.

"I know, but you're hurting yourself with it. What's with that?" Wendy began to ask in a stern voice.

"You don't know what it is like back at home. Everything is hell." Mabel said with a sad tone.

Wendy just sat silence looking at her. She wanted to know more, but what Stan had told her is more than enough. She didn't want to bring back bad memories for her. Mabel has been through enough in just a year. She was being pretty defensive and Wendy tried her best in a day to win her trust back.

"Hey, tonight there will be a town festival. Wanna come?" Wendy asked her.

"Do I have a choice?"

"No. No you're not." Wendy stood up and offered her hand to Mabel. "Now let's get back to the Shack. I'm late for my shift and you're gonna have to sit with me at the register today."

Mabel sighed and reached Wendy's hand and she pulled her up. Both of them started walking back to the Shack. Wendy thought Mabel's loosening up a lot today. Maybe it's a good thing for both of them and for everyone else.

* * *

After a very busy and hectic day, it's time to close up the shop. Mabel had went up back into the room as she didn't wanna wait anymore. Soos had went home as he promised Abuelita to make dinner. Wendy had to lock up the gifts shop and empty the cash register. Every dollar that had been collected has to be handed to Stan after that. After finishing up everything, Wendy decided to go back to the room to rest for a while before leaving for the town festival tonight.

"Wendy, get over here for a sec." Stan called Wendy before she had the chance to leave the gifts shop. He was counting the profits they'd earned from today's tours. Wendy complied and turned around and walked towards the cash register.

"Something wrong Stan? The money are shorthanded?" Wendy asked jokingly.

Stan chuckled and handed a couple of thick dollars to Wendy. "Here, it's for tonight's festival."

"Woah, that's… too much for you to give Stan!" Wendy was stunned as he never saw Stan gave out money that much to anyone else.

"Hey, just take it before I change my mind. You and Mabel go enjoy yourself. Mabel's gonna need it the most."

Wendy took the money. "You know you're starting to freak me out a little bit right? You're Stan not acting like a Stan."

"Yeah, whatever." Stan said, still maintaining his grouchy front. Wendy just smiled seeing him. He thanked Stan and went back to the room.

* * *

Wendy was so excited to tell Mabel that Stan had given them money for tonight. Without any hesitation, she pushed open the door and cried out in excitement.

"Mabel! You won't believe this. Stan just gave us a loads of cash for…" Wendy gasped at what she saw. Mabel was slicing her arm with a small razor, but immediately stopped when Wendy came barging in.

"MABEL!" Wendy cried out. "What the hell?!" She went over and took the razor blade from Mabel's hand.

"Oh God Mabel. Where the hell did you get this razor?!"

"Gifts shop." Mabel answered, hanging down her head.

"I want you to stop this right now! You hear me?"

"YOU DON'T FEEL WHAT I FEEL!" Mabel exclaimed. I can't help it! You don't feel the sensation… This is the only way I can feel calm and relax." Her tears fell down her cheek once again. "I… I can't help it Wendy… since Dipper's gone… It hurts so… much."

Wendy's eyes began to well with tears. "Mabel, please, stop hurting yourself. This is not the way." She put her hand onto both Mabel's shoulder, pleading her to stop this harmful habit.

"You don't understand…" Mabel shook her head.

"Maybe I don't. But Dipper will. What would Dipper think if he caught you doing this now?" Wendy asked. Mabel lifted her head to face her.

"I…I'm…" Mabel broke down and cried when he thought about it. Dipper would be ashamed, disappointed, angered, and sad if he sees her doing this… "I'm sorry…" Mabel whispered.

"Hey, look at me." Wendy said. Mabel began to stare at Wendy. "Promise me you won't do this thing anymore."

"I… I… I can't." Mabel looked down, avoiding her gaze.

"Then promise Dipper not to do it anymore again."

Mabel didn't say anything. She was thinking, will she stop this toxic habit? She couldn't help it as the sensation is too good to be true. She sighed and she lifted her eyes back to Wendy.

"I promise."

Wendy nodded. "Now, we need to fix that up. You still got the ointment and bandages you brought?" Wendy asked Mabel. She knew if she took the first-aid kit from downstairs, Stan will ask a hell lot of questions. It's better if he didn't know.

Mabel pulled her duffel bag and zipped it open. Rummaging through the bag, she handed Wendy bandages and ointment she brought yesterday. Wendy began slowly to clean the cuts on Mabel's arm. Luckily it was a small cut and there were less blood. Mabel winced in pain as the ointment touched her skin and flinched a little bit.

"Keep it still." Wendy said.

"I kept still if you stop touching my arm." Mabel said with irritated tone.

"Hey, it's not my fault. You done this to yourself. You're lucky this cut isn't deep or else, this needed to be stitched up."

"Whatever. It's like I've never been stitched before." Mabel pouted and rolled her eyes. Wendy just smiled seeing her face like that. _Mabel slowly back to her old self._

Finishing the bandages, Mabel then rolled the sleeve back. Wendy noticed the sleeve were stained with blood. She immediately went over to the closet and opened it. She found some old hoodie hanging in it and threw it to Mabel.

"There. Change your hoodie. The one you're wearing is dirty already."

Mabel stared at the hoodie Wendy had given. It was super similar to what she wore.

"Where did you get this?" Mabel asked.

"Oh, it's Dipper's. He left it before. I gave two hoodie on your guys 16th birthday remember? One for you, and another one for him. I guess he left it here and forgot about it." Wendy told Mabel.

Mabel stared at the hoodie she held and proceeded to slip off the one she's wearing and wore the new one. Wendy gestured her to throw the dirty hoodie at her and she did. Wendy then put the hoodie into the dirty clothes basket and close the closet. She then proceed to laid down on the bed with Mabel.

Wendy stared at Mabel who was gazing at Dipper's bed. Her eyes were filled with sadness, sorrow and… guilt? _Oh no…_

"Mabel, whatcha thinking?"

"Nothing." Mabel said, still staring at Dipper's bed. "I guess… sometimes I thought, if I haven't drove the car that day… things would have been different."

Wendy pulled herself up from the bed. She went in front of Mabel.

"Mabel, listen." Wendy said as Mabel looked at her.

"It's not your fault."

Mabel sadly chuckled at that statement. "Yeah, I know. It's just an accident. Anything could happen."

"Mabel…"

"What?!" Mabel started to feel irritated.

"It's not your fault." Wendy repeated.

Mabel pushed Wendy away. Her hands are trembling. Her eyes welled with tears.

"NO! Don't… Don't you do this to me…" Mabel's voice stated to crack as she held back her tears.

Wendy gazed into Mabel's eyes once again.

"It's not your fault."

Mabel finally broke down, crying uncontrollably. She suddenly wrapped her arms around Wendy's neck and hugged her. Wendy hugged her back in comfort. Wendy rubbed her back to calm her down.

"Hey, hey… It's okay…" Wendy whispered.

"I'm sorry… I'm sorry for acting like a jerk…" Mabel said as she held Wendy tighter. She needed that comfort. A comfort with someone else. She was glad that Wendy was here. She was alone all this time and Wendy came back for her. She was like a sister she wished she ever had.

Wendy pulled her away from the hug. Wendy smiled at Mabel. Mabel wiped her tears away. She finally calmed herself down. She looked at Wendy and cracked a faint smile.

"Hey, you ready for tonight's festival?" Wendy asked, trying to change the scene they were in. Mabel shrugged a little bit, showing a bit of uncertainty.

"I… I don't know. They're some people in the town I don't wanna meet." Mabel slowly said.

"Then, we won't have to! We'll avoid them!"

"Yeah… I guess so."

"Hey short stack. Chin up buddy. I wanna see that Mabel I love and known for years."

"You wish…" Mabel replied coldly. Wendy frowned a little bit hearing that. She still held back her true self, but slowly showing it back. _This is good._ Wendy thought.

 _This is getting better… I think…_

* * *

 **I promise you guys that Pacifica will be in the picture, and yes, it will be in part 2. Also, Gideon existence will be explained in the next part. So bare with me alright? Because the next part will be intense.**

 **As usual, review if you like, favorite if you find it worthwhile and follow if you find this story interesing!**


	7. Making Amends (Pt 2)

**I don't have a proper reason for the slow update, but here it is, another part of chapter 4.**

 **Also, "In Time" isn't abandoned. I just... need time to write a proper story for the chapter. God, writer's block is a thing huh?**

 **Anywho, hope you guys enjoy reading this part!**

* * *

The moon was shining bright tonight as the truck passed into the town. Mabel noticed the Gleeful house was already been demolished and turned into a shop. She remembered that since Gideon was in jail for fraud and conning people, his father and his mother had to leave town for their own safety from certain people who hated them. Mabel felt relieved when she knew Gideon had been sentenced to prison for quite a long time as she hated him so much. During the Twins' first summer, Mabel thought that Gideon was a nice guy until he stalked her and kept calling her every single seconds. Dipper confronted him and told him that Mabel wasn't interested in him anymore. It went pretty bad before both of them finally broke into a fight. Luckily, Mabel arrived at the nick of time to stop him. Mabel went brutally honest to Gideon that she didn't want to see him again. Gideon swore that he will have revenge on the Pines family and before he could do anything, he was thrown into jail for committing fraud and conning people.

Mabel smirked seeing the house as she knew Gideon deserved it. She then noticed the Greasy's Diner. It was where Mabel, Dipper and Grunkle Stan usually went for breakfast when Stan's feeling lazy to make breakfast. She frowned a little bit remembering that. She sighed for a while after seeing couple of more buildings they'd passed.

"We're here." Wendy said, as she pulled up her truck into a parking spot. Mabel noticed that the road were filled with various shops up until the town hall. In front of the town hall, there was a large stage set for the grand opening of the festival. Mabel felt uneasy when she saw lots of people had crowded the festival. She looked at Wendy in a sigh of uncertainty. But Wendy reassured her that everything will be fine. Mabel tucked her hair into her cap neatly and she jumped out from the truck. Wendy locked the truck and both of them started to walk towards the festival.

As both of them passed through the crowd, Mabel felt that there were eyes were watching her. True enough, she looked around and saw the townsfolk were whispering to each other and staring at her. Mabel gulped and felt very uncomfortable. She then pulled up her hoodie to cover her head. Wendy witnessed what was happening around her, quickly pulled her out from the streets into an alley.

"I wanna go home." Mabel started to hyperventilate. She can't breathe right as she felt insecure.

"Mabel, relax. Just chill. It was nothing." Wendy tried to comfort her.

"Don't you see? They were watching me and they were whispering to each other like I'm a ghost or something!" Mabel cried out. Wendy didn't want to argue. But it's true that the townsfolk watched her like they'd seen a ghost. The way Mabel wore her from head to toe made her look like Dipper. Since Dipper ditched his usual vest and cargo short, he usually wear a hoodie, jeans and sneakers up until his death. Wendy rubbed her forehead when she saw Mabel's anxiety.

"Look, if you don't wanna go through the street, we can just…" Wendy looked up and saw a fire escape ladder leading to the roof of the shop. "…we can just hop onto the roof and watch the stage from there." Wendy pointed out to the ladder. Mabel shrugged, but just complied.

Wendy began to pull down the ladder, leading Mabel up and soon they climbed. As they climbed the two storey shop, Mabel saw the whole street was now filled with hundreds of people. Mabel gazed in awe for a while. She never seen the town was filled with lots of people like this before.

As they jumped on the roof, Mabel brushed her hand off and followed Wendy from behind. As the shops are all interconnected to each other, both of them found themselves easy enough to jump over to another roof and finally, they reached one building that situated very near to the stage. Wendy and Mabel began to sit and the edge of the roof to see the festival opening.

"There are lots of people tonight. I've never seen big event in town like this before." Mabel said.

"Yeah, this is the first time too. The Northwes-" before Wendy could finished her sentence, Mabel cut her off.

"The Northwest?!" She exclaimed. Her eyes widened as she heard that name. She stood up, turned around and walked away. Wendy was speechless when she saw Mabel walked away.

"W-wait! Mabel, where the heck are you going?"

"Home." Mabel shouted as she distanced herself from Wendy. Wendy immediately ran up to her and blocked her.

"Look, whatever feud you have with The Northwest, you have to let go of that. We're here tonight to enjoy." Wendy said.

"You don't understand-"

"Yes! I don't understand anything what is going on with you and them, but please, stay here, with me." Wendy pleaded. "Just, forget whatever problems you have with them for tonight."

Mabel sigh in exasperation. She then turned back to the edge of the roof and sat back at her spot. Wendy breathe a sigh relief when Mabel turned back. She went and sat beside Mabel.

Everyone had gathered in front of the stage and were waiting for the grand opening. Minutes later, a male announcer came on the stage, holding a microphone.

"Good evening everybody! Welcome to the first Gravity Falls Town Festival. My name is James Ridley, and I'll be your host for tonight's festival!" The audiences clapped their hands as he introduced himself.

"First of all, I would like to thank The Northwest Family for their big contribution to this festival. Without them, this festival would not be possible." James said as he pointed to the Northwest who were sitting on the massive crown chair at the middle of the stage. Preston, Priscilla and Pacifica waved their hand to the crowd as they cheered for them. Mabel gripped her hands into a fist as she saw the Northwest; especially Pacifica.

"Before we start this show, let me invite Pacifica Northwest for her to give us some speech." James called her out and handed her the microphone. Pacifica cleared her throat before speaking.

"Thank you all so much for coming. Tonight is the historical night for the town as this is the first time we ever held such a grand festival for our town. There will be lots of activities for tonight, and also a concert here. Sev'ral Timez, The Hawk, Front Directions and also the one and only, Randy Ricky!"

The crowd cheered even louder when they heard Randy Ricky's name. He was one of the famous singer in the US. Pacifica smiled widely as she saw the crowds, but that smiled didn't last when she saw two figure on the roof. She recognized the first one, it was Wendy Corduroy, the lumberjack's daughter. But the second figure she saw made the mic she held dropped. She saw Dipper (from the way Mabel wore, she looked like a splitting image of Dipper). Pacifica trembled, backed out and ran to the backstage. Preston and Priscilla just watched their daughter in shock. James the announcer immediately picked up the mic and handled the situation.

"It's okay everyone! She's fine. Alright! Let's start this festival with our first performance by Sev'ral Timez!" The crowd cheered as the boy band came onto the stage and sang one of their hit song.

* * *

"Wow, what was that all about?" Wendy asked Mabel when they saw Pacifica ran away from the stage.

Mabel just shrugged. "Let's go get something to eat. I'm hungry." Mabel said as she stood up. Wendy felt weird when she saw Mabel was uninterested in seeing one of her favorite boy band performing on the stage, but she just complied and followed her to the ladder nearby. They slide down the ladder, leading to the alleyway. As they exited the alleyway, Mabel and Wendy walked through the crowds and they entered a restaurant. They found out that the restaurant were crowded with people, but Wendy saw an empty table across and pulled Mabel there. As they settled down at the table, a waiter came and was ready to take their order. After taking order, the waiter left.

"Are you sure we can afford the food here?" Mabel asked.

"Don't you remember? Stan gave us loads of money for tonight." Wendy pulled out wads of dollars from her pocket and showed it to Mabel. She nodded and then drifted into her deep thoughts.

The restaurant itself was pretty hectic. Wendy recognized a couple of patrons that were enjoying their meals. Tyler the Biker was having some steak, Sheriff Blubbs and Deputy Durland were having a chili fries Robbie were enjoying his dinner with Tambry. She then turned to Mabel and saw her fiddling with her fingers as she sat silence.

"Something bothering you?" Wendy asked. Mabel lifted her head to face Wendy who was sitting beside her.

"It's nothing." Mabel replied. But Wendy didn't buy that.

"What was your problem with the Northwest anyway?"

Mabel sighed. "It's…" As Mabel wanted to explain to Wendy, as sudden familiar voice called out her name.

"Mabel."

Mabel turned her head sideways and saw Pacifica. She wore her usual purple jacket with short lavender dress and black leggings with cream colored boots. Wendy noticed her eyes were puffy and drawing bloodshot. _Is she crying?_ Wendy asked in her thoughts. Mabel suddenly turned away to avoid looking at her. Pacifica then sat across the table and called her out again.

"What do you want?" Mabel asked in a flat, cold tone.

"I've come here to say sorry." Pacifica said in a cracking voice. She was holding her tears back.

"Say that to Dipper." Mabel glared at Pacifica in a full anger and hatred.

Pacifica began to tremble. "Li-listen to me first Mabel. It's my parent… th-they don't like our relationship, so… my dad forced me to-"

"Force you what? To break up with him? To humiliate him in front of your rich snob friends?" Mabel shot back. Pacifica was taken aback by her words.

"Mabel, please, listen to me-"

"NO, YOU LISTEN TO ME YOU PATHETIC BITCH!" Mabel slammed her fist onto the table, making everyone in the restaurant turned to see the commotion. The restaurant suddenly became dead silent. Wendy gasped when she saw Mabel snapped like that.

"You broke his heart, you humiliated him, and you stripped his dignity away from him. Do you know what happened that night when he came home?!" Mabel furiously asked.

"Wh-what… happened?" Pacifica slowly asked.

"He locked himself up in the break room, didn't allow me or Grunkle Stan, or Wendy, or Soos, or ANYBODY to enter! He's in that bloody room for nearly a month!" Mabel shouted at her. "You broke him that day. I trusted you, he cared about you and he… loved you…" Mabel's voice began to crack. Pacifica sat silence. She hung her head down as tears falling down her cheek.

"And here you are, dared to come here, to face me and begging for an apology? How dare you." She scowled and pushed herself away from the table and walked away. Before she left, she turned around once again. "Dipper's right. You are just another link in the world's worst chain." Mabel then left the restaurant, leaving Wendy and Pacifica at the table.

Wendy was shocked and stunned by that revelation. She remembered that three years ago, that night when Dipper came home, crying and running into the break room, locking himself up in the room…

* * *

 _Wendy was watching a movie with Mabel at the living room. Tonight was pretty quiet in the Shack as Stan had gone out somewhere with Soos to break in someone's house and Dipper had gone to Pacifica's mansion as her date for his parents' party because Pacifica asked him. Wendy took the liberty to chill with Mabel as she was alone at the Shack. They were watching an old B-movie zombie flick._

 _"Man, look at that guy, he's about to get eaten and yet he still stood there like an idiot." Wendy pointed out at the character in the movie._

 _Mabel laughed. "Hey! Run you dum-dum or you'll die!" Mabel shouted at the screen and both of them laughed when the character get surrounded by horde of zombies._

 _Suddenly, the front door opened and was slammed shut. Mabel and Wendy took a peek from the living room and noticed that Dipper had come home. Mabel excitedly stood and ran to her twin._

 _"How was your date Dipper?" Mabel teased him. But her teasing ceased when she saw Dipper was in a horrible state. His eyes were puffy and reddened from crying, his clothes were pretty torn up and he was breathing heavily._

 _"Bro-bro, are you alright?" Mabel began to worry. She tried to hold his shoulder but Dipper brushed her hand off and ran to the break room._

 _"Dipper!" Mabel called out to him. Wendy who saw what happened joined Mabel at the hallway leading to the break room. Reaching the room, Mabel tried to twist the door knob, but it won't budge. Mabel knocked at the door and called him out._

 _"Dipper? Are you alright?"_

 _"GO AWAY!" Dipper screamed from inside the room._

 _"Dipper, don't act like this. Talk to-"_

 _"LEAVE ME ALONE!" Dipper shouted at his twin sister, who flinched a little bit hearing him shouted like that. Mabel worries turned to a sudden panic. She turned to Wendy for help. Wendy then tried to call him out._

 _"Dipper, dude. What's wrong? You're freaking us out right now."_

 _"I SAID GO AWAY!"_

 _Wendy raised a brow. She then stuck her ear to the door. She heard sobbing, crying and cursing. Wendy gasped at what she heard. Ever since she know him, Dipper never curse. But this is something different. Something is terribly wrong with him._

 _"Mabel, do you have spare key for this room?" Wendy turned to Mabel._

 _"N-no, but Soos has 'em." Mabel immediately pulled out her phone and dialed Soos's number. She waited for a while for the call to be picked up._

 _"What's up Mabel?" Soos's voice can be heard at the end of the line._

 _"Soos, come home quickly. Dipper's acting weird and he locked himself up in the break room." Mabel said in a distressing tone._

 _"Oh, okay. I'll inform Mr. Pines and we'll be home soon hambone. Stay safe!" Soos immediately hung up. Mabel stuffed her phone back into her pocket and turned back to Wendy. She was still at the door, trying to talk to Dipper._

 _"Dipper, dude, please. Just come out man. We can talk about this." Wendy pleaded._

 _"WHY DO YOU CARE?!" Dipper shouted. He still can be heard sobbing._

 _"Be-because…" Wendy stuttered. There was something holding her back from saying it. "…because I'm your friend!" Wendy shot back. Dipper didn't replied. Silence looming the Shack. Mabel tried to say something, but held her mouth shut and just wait for Grunkle Stan and Soos to come back home._

 _"Oh Wendy, what do we do?"_

 _"I… I don't know. We'll just have to wait for Soos and Stan to come home first. But for now, let's just wait here… and pray he didn't do something stupid in there." Wendy said. Both of them slid down at the door and waited until the key arrived. Mabel and Wendy can hear Dipper's sobbing and crying from inside the room._

 _Soon, they heard Stan's car from the outside. A steps of running came into the hallway and Soon and Stan appeared. Stan was still wearing his cat burglar outfit while Soos is wearing his iconic green question mark t-shirt. He immediately went to the door and pushed the key into the knob._

 _"Okay, someone explain to me what the hell is going on here?" Stan demanded. "I'm in the middle of stealing someone's rug and you called us to come home. What's the deal?"_

 _"It's Dipper. He came home, he looked terrible, and before I could asked him anything, he ran into this room and locked himself up." Mabel tried her best to explain the situation to him. Stan raised a brow hearing this and he approached the door. Soos was having a difficulty in unlocking the door. He then knocked on the door and called him out._

 _"Dipper. Open this door. NOW." Stan knocked on the door several times. No answer._

 _"Kid, I warned you. OPEN. THIS. DOOR." Still no answer._

 _Stan had enough of this crap. "Screw this. Out of the way, Soos." Stan shoved Soos aside and kicked the door down. It crashed opened. Inside, Dipper was cowering at the corner, bawling his eyes out. Mabel, seeing her brother, immediately ran into the room and approached him._

 _"Dipper, what the hell was that all about?!" Mabel demandingly asked him. Dipper did not respond, but he lifted his head and stared directly into her eyes. She saw pain, agony and heartbreak. Mabel knew what happened._

 _"Pacifica?" Mabel asked, sudden anger filled her heart. If Dipper nodded, she swore that she will end her. Dipper turned his head away, avoiding her fury gaze. Mabel couldn't wait anymore, Dipper's avoidance was enough for her. She turned around and headed for the door, but Dipper held her arm._

 _"Don't…" Dipper said._

 _"W-what?! That... she… did this to you and you just wanna-"_

 _"Leave it…" Dipper gazed into her eyes once again. "Just… don't come in here anymore." Dipper turned and sat back at the corner of the room. He didn't move after that. Mabel just watched him as he sat there. Wendy wanted to enter but being blocked by Mabel. She shook her head and told her that they needed to leave him for a while. He needed some time..._

 _It turned out Dipper was in that room for a pretty long time. He locked himself in that room and blocked it with a shield incantation which Ford used to teach him. Everyone was not allowed to enter it. Mabel constant worry turned to a constant paranoia. She would sat at the door, waiting for her brother to come out. In the middle of the night, when Mabel was asleep, she would often heard Dipper running downstairs, possibly went to the kitchen for some food, but she couldn't caught him in time. Even Stan set a trap along the hallway, but the trap remained untouched. Wendy and Soos tried their best to comfort Mabel. Mabel was in a miserable state at that time. She rarely sleep, she would often sat in front of the break room and refused to eat until being forced by Wendy and Stan, and often called out his brother to come out._

 _In the third week, Mabel finally broke down crying. It was something she rarely done to herself. She cried and cried and called out for Dipper to come out._

 _"Dipper please, why are you doing this to me?" Mabel begged at the door. "I could help you… But please, you have to get out from this room… Don't… do this to me." She slammed her fist onto the door so hard that the whole Shack could heard it. Mabel finally gave up. She knew that her brother had change. She knew who to blame and who's responsible for this. It was Pacif-_

 _The door suddenly opened. Dipper was standing in front of the entrance. Mabel lifted her head to see his brother. She was still trembling. Dipper immediately went and hugged her to comfort._

 _"I'm so sorry for making you worry. I am so, terribly sorry." Dipper squeezed her extra tight as a sign of apology. Mabel was speechless. She immediately pulled herself away from the hug to look at his face. He looked terrible. He had eye bags, his hair was messier than before, but nonetheless, he gave a calm and warmth smile._

 _"What did Pacifica do to you?" Mabel started asking. Dipper shrugged but he tried to explain anyway._

 _"She… brought me to introduce to her friend, but then suddenly her friends and suddenly they mocked me, calling me names. They told me she never loved me and she… was toying with me all this time. Everyone in the party turned attention to me and I became a joke to them…" Dipper revealed what happened before. He breathe a heavy sigh._

 _"They called me a commoner, a ratchet scum who doesn't belong to their society, telling… that The Pines are the worst of the worst. I couldn't stand it anymore… I ran away, but Pacifica tried to hold me back for whatever reason… I left the mansion, running back to the Shack."_

 _Mabel felt the fury ignited inside of her. Her sad expression turned into an anger. She was prepared to kill Pacifica for hurting her brother._

 _"That bitch, I'm going to kill that bitch!" Mabel screamed out. Dipper was startled by her cursing._

 _"Woah Mabel, calm down."_

 _"How can I calm down when she did this to you?!"_

 _"Mabel, listen to me. Let it go. It's all over now. I don't wanna think or talk about this anymore." Dipper gripped both of her hands gently and gave her a reassurance smile. Mabel raised a brow._

 _"Are you… sure?"_

 _"Yes Mabes, I'm sure." Dipper replied. Mabel smiled back and gave him a hard punch to his shoulder. Dipper yelped a little bit._

 _"Ooww, what was that for?" Dipper asked while rubbing his right shoulder. It hurts like hell. Didn't even knew Mabel could threw a punch like that._

 _"That's for making everyone worried about you." Mabel said while she pulled Dipper to the living room. "Come on bro-bro, let's get you something to eat. Everyone's in the kitchen."_

 _"Can't… I just go to the bathroom first? I kinda need a shower." Dipper asked while he was being dragged by Mabel. Mabel shook her head. "No, you need something proper to eat first. Since when did you shower?"_

* * *

Wendy turned to Pacifica, who was still bawling her eyes out. She shifted her seat nearer to her.

"Alright Northwest, you need to tell me what the fuck did you do to them before or I swear, I will break you." Wendy's voices startled Pacifica. She lifted her head.

"Wendy, it's not my fault. I didn't even want to hurt Dipper… or Mabel. I had no choice." Pacifica started to tell her what really happened.

"My father forced me to break up with him and humiliated him too. He said, if I didn't complied with him, he would have done worst to not just only me, but to Dipper too." Pacifica sniffled. "When I was in the crowd with them, making fun of them, I actually didn't joined them. But I can see his eyes staring at me in disbelieve. I'd betrayed his heart…"

"Pacifica, are you telling me that your dad… abused you?" Wendy asked her. Pacifica stared directly into her eyes. She avoided her gaze, she didn't want to answer that question.

"Mabel's mad at you, but she still a forgiving person we knew." She assured Pacifica with a gentle tone. She turned to face her again.

"You don't understand. That mansion is a living hell. You think that all this time the townsfolk sees me as a happy, snobby rich girl, that doesn't mean everything is heaven." Pacifica hung her head down. "When Dipper came, he saved me. He changed me into someone better, saying that I don't have to be like my parents. I can be whoever I want to be." The waterworks began to fill her eyes once again.

"But no, that's not true, all of it… Mabel's right… I am just another link in the world's worst chain…" Her tears once again fell down from her cheek. Wendy knew what she needed to do.

"No you're not."

"What?"

Wendy grabbed Pacifica's hand, pulled her away from the table and exited the restaurant. Pacifica was shocked by this and tried to restrain herself from being dragged through the street.

"What are you doing? Let me go!" Pacifica struggled to get away from Wendy's grip, but she couldn't because the grip were too tight.

"We're going to find Mabel, and settle this once and for all."

"What!? No! She hates me and she probably doesn't want to see me again."

"No, she's just angry and confused. All you got to do is explain to her what really happened. She needs to hear from your perspective."

"Wendy, I… I…"

"Just shut up and help me find her." Wendy barked at her, still dragging her hand. Pacifica then went silent and followed her, even though technically she's being dragged. Both of them passed through the crowds that were on the street. Wendy and Pacifica scanned around them to see if Mabel was around. The street was packed and it was super hard for them to notice Mabel at this point.

"Why don't you call her or something?" Pacifica suggested.

Wendy shook her head. "She don't have a phone, didn't even use one."

"Really? How can she survive without a phone?"

"Apparently, she still survived didn't she?" Wendy shot back, giving a sharp glare at her. Pacifica gulped and avoided her gaze. Wendy and Pacifica continued walking through the street, passing by all the people that are crowding the street. Wendy then noticed a figure with a washed out blue cap and a dark blue hoodie entering the parking lot. She knew that was Mabel. Wendy nudged Pacifica and pointed to Mabel.

* * *

Mabel was walking towards Wendy's truck. After Pacifica showed up in that restaurant, and her little outburst to her, Mabel decided that she had enough for tonight even though her hunger still strikes her stomach. She didn't care. She hated her for what she had done to her brother before. Anger filled her heart, she gripped her fists tightly as she remembered what happened to Dipper. She imagined Pacifica's mocking him in that mansion, rendered him helpless. Mabel clenched her teeth. But what can she do?

Mabel approached the passenger's door and pulled it open. Unfortunately, the door was locked. Mabel groaned and she turned around to lean against the door. She was breathing heavily. She felt that sensation again. The need for calmness and pain. She rolled her right sleeve and rubbed the bandaged arm. She started to debate in her mind again. She made a promise to Dipper, even though he's not around anymore. But, somehow, she could feel his presence, like he was always watching her. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes. Everything went out of focus as she remembered her moments with her brother.

"Mabel…" She heard someone called out her name and it sounded like Dipper.

"Mabel." Once again she heard it, but this time it was a woman's voice. She opened her eyes and saw in front of her was Pacifica. Sudden rage filled her heart again.

"Go away." She warned with a sharp glare. Pacifica didn't budged by her warning.

"Mabel, please. Listen to me first."

"Why would I should listen to you after all you've done to my brother?" Mabel shot back.

"Because I wanna fix what's broken between us."

"You wanna fix it now? Isn't that a too little too late? You didn't even try to contact me or him after that day. You didn't even came by the Shack, you just… shwooosssh…. Gone." Mabel waved her hand on her air as a gesture that she wasn't there to explain things.

"Mabel, listen to me first, it wasn't me that did it. It was my father."

Mabel glared at her. "Then why did you not fight back?"

"I can't. Father threatened me that he would have done something worse to me and then to Dipper."

Mabel scoffed. "Well, your dad must be so glad now, because Dipper's dead."

Pacifica's eyes widened after she heard that. She was in disbelieve of how cold she would say things like that.

"Mabel, what happened to you? You are not… you. You don't act like this. You are forgiving, but why… why are you being like this?"

"Because the Mabel you knew died with him." She gave her another glance. Both of them were silence, standing at the parking spot, face to face. Pacifica was speechless after what she heard. She could feel her heart swollen inside after hearing that. She stared at Mabel's expression, but she couldn't read it. It was either hatred or sadness, but she was expressionless to be more. Pacifica couldn't say anything anymore. She could feel waterworks stated to build up once again. She decided that she needed to leave. Pacifica then turned around and ran back to the festival.

Wendy, who was hiding behind a minivan, witnessed everything. She couldn't believe how Mabel just acted to Pacifica. _How could Mabel say something like that?_ She decided to keep it to herself until both of them were back to the Shack. Wendy jumped out from her hiding spot and walked towards her truck like nothing happened.

"Ready to head home?" Wendy asked. Mabel turned around to see her approaching the driver's door, unlocking it. Mabel just shrugged a little bit and opened the passenger's door. The truck's engine ignited and both of them were now on their way back to the Shack.

* * *

Mabel was leaning her head against the window, watching the dark forest as they passed by it. She was in deep thought. Wendy looked at her as she frowned. _Looks like she still in that shell_. She took a deep breath and let it out. She needed to talk to her.

"Mabel?"

Mabel jolted a little bit from her thought when she heard her name being called. "Hhmm?" She turned her head around to see Wendy. "What?"

"You know Pacifica just wants your forgiveness."

Mabel rolled her eyes. "It wasn't me that she needed to ask for. It was Dipper."

"That's true. But, you're his twins. You should feel what he feels too. Sure, Dipper must have hurt, but I know that he's forgiving, just as much as you."

"Yeah, like you know what we've been through."

At this point, Wendy pulled over the truck to the roadside. She then turned around to face Mabel. She started to rub her bridge of nose.

"Mabel, after all these years, why did you and Dipper befriend Pacifica?" Wendy asked her in a serious tone.

"Be-because we thought we can help her become a better person." Mabel now uncertain of her answer.

"And did she become a better person after that?"

"Ye-yeah, but look at what she did to Dipper that day!" Mabel exclaimed.

"And you must know that all of that wasn't her doings."

"I don't wanna talk about this now." Mabel tried to avoid her explanation. She can't accept it now. She hated Pacifica. She blamed her for breaking her brother before. She couldn't forgive what she had done to him.

Wendy sighed as she pushed down the handbrake and started to continue to drive back to the shack. Both of them were silence along the way. Wendy wanted to say something but she kept it to herself just until they reached the Shack.

They arrived at the Shack. Wendy pulled up the truck in front of the house and turned off the engine. Just about Mabel wanted to jump off from the truck, Wendy held her arm.

"Mabel, wait."

Mabel began to feel irritated at this point. "What more do you wanna say?"

"I know, deep down, you forgive her." Wendy said in the gentlest way she can. Mabel kept silent and looked away from her. Mabel knew Pacifica was a victim… and so does Dipper. She brushed Wendy's hand off and jumped off from the seat. Wendy watched her as she slammed the door close and entered the front door. Wendy breathe a heavy sigh. She laid her head onto the steering wheel. She worried about her. She wanted to help Mabel, but somehow, Mabel was being so defensive. She needed a way.

"Dipper, why did you leave?" Wendy murmured. She could've done this if he was here… but that was all she could do now was try. She made that promise and she were going to keep it.

* * *

 **Yeah, this chapter is not over yet. I apologize once again for the slow update and I promise you guys that I will update faster in the future.  
**

 **As usual, review if you like, favorite if you find it worthwhile your time and follow if you find this story interesting!**


	8. Making Amends (Pt 3)

**Hello! I'm back with the longest chapter yet. I have no reason for the super late update. So, I wanna tell you guys thank you for the positive reviews and thank you for noticing that I have lots of grammar errors. What can I say, I'm too lazy to proofread.**

 **Anywho, this is the last part for this chapter. Enjoy reading! :D**

* * *

"So, how's the festival?" Stan asked Wendy as she about to ascend the stairs. The old man was sitting on his old recliner in the living room, watching some old soap opera called "The Duchess Approves". Wendy still didn't understand how did the man got hooked with that kind of show.

"It's fine… I guess."

Stan raised his eyebrows. He turned his head around to Wendy who was still standing near the stairs.

"You guess? What happened?" Stan reached the TV remote and lowered the volume down. Wendy sighed and entered the living room, sitting near Stan on the floor.

"We met Pacifica… In the restaurant."

Stan raised a brow. "Huh. That must have went well." But he knew so well that that meeting didn't went well.

She shook her head. "No. It went bad. We didn't even have the chance to eat when Mabel stormed off from the restaurant." Wendy felt her stomach growling as she didn't ate anything since evening. Stan did offered her some sandwich before they left, but she told him that she will eat with Mabel at the festival. Guess she regretted not accepting that sandwich now.

"Both of you guys didn't eat anything yet"

"No…"

Stan grumbled, got up from his recliner and head for the kitchen. Wendy was surprised when he came back with a plate of sandwiches. He offered the plate to Wendy.

"Here, it's a bit cold but still tasty. Take it upstairs and eat with Mabel." Stan extended his hand that was holding the plate to her. Wendy reluctantly took it.

"Thank you Stan. But isn't this the sandwiches you offered this evening?"

"Either take it or leave it." Stan grumpily said.

"Yes sir." The redheaded woman immediately stood up and headed upstairs. Stan just shook his head looking at her running upstairs. "Oyy, woman…" He continued to laid onto the old recliner back and watch the soap opera where he left before.

* * *

Wendy knocked on the door before she entered the room. She slowly pushed the door open and took a peek first. She saw Mabel was sitting on the floor, flipping through her Summer Scrapbook. She never brought that scrapbook back to Piedmont after summer. Mabel thought it would be best to left it there as a momento for the Shack. But little did she knew, that this momento was going to be her greatest pain she would ever looked on.

Mabel noticed Wendy had entered the room, but decided to ignore her presence. She saw her holding a plate, but didn't know what was on it.

"Stan gave us the leftover sandwiches from this evening. I bet you're hungry, 'cause I am." Wendy said flatly as she sat on Mabel's bed. Wendy started to bite a slice of sandwich and savor it. Damn it was a cold, delicious sandwich.

Mabel kept ignoring her, but nevertheless, her stomach was growling wildly. She regretted to leave that restaurant so early because of Pacifica's presence, but she couldn't stand to watch her face. She flipped through the pages when suddenly noticed one photo; a photo of her, Dipper, Pacifica and Wendy during their second summer. Three of them were turning 13 and Wendy was turning 16. The picture showed Mabel, wearing a green sweater with a pine tree symbol on it, making funny face, Dipper wore his usual blue cap, red shirt, vest and cargo short, stood very near to Pacifica who wore a blue shirt with a jacket, and Wendy in her usual green flannel shirt, chilling on the log giving out a peace. She remembered this moment. They were out camping in the forest and Mabel had "forced" Pacifica to join them. She knew Pacifica had a thing for Dipper, so she planned on matchmaking them.

* * *

 _"Come on Paz, its going to be fun." Mabel nudged her side, giving her a teasing glare. Pacifica groaned and continue to ignore her. The reason she was in the Greasy's diner in the first place was to spent some time with the twins and maybe get some food to eat. But now, she was being "harassed" and teased by Mabel in joining them camping in the woods._

 _"Yeah, you should totally join us, Pacifica." Dipper, who was sitting across the table, said in supporting Mabel's idea._

 _Pacifica started to shift her seat uncomfortably. "Yeah, but you already got that red-haired friend of yours…" She slowly said. She wasn't sure if joining them would be a great idea as she knew that Dipper still had a crush on whats-her-name._

 _"You mean Wendy? Ppfftt, she's practically our summer-sister…" Mabel noticed that Pacifica was hanging her head down, blushing a little bit._

 _"… Or you're just jealous." She smirked as she teased her, again._

 _"It-It's not like that! I… I…"_

 _"You're what? Hhhmmmm?"_

 _"N-Nothing!" Pacifica retorted, making her cheek blushed even redder._

 _"Mabel, stop teasing her."_

 _"Not until she agree to join us bro-bro!"_

 _Dipper sighed. "You just have to say 'yes' if you wanna get out from this."_

 _"Fine! I'll join your stupid camp." Pacifica pouted. "Now can we order some pancakes now? I'm starving."_

 _Mabel grinned widely. She turned to Dipper who was staring at her, giving her a mischievous grin to her brother. Dipper just sigh, he knew this is going to be the death of him being match-made by his sister._

* * *

Mabel slammed the scrapbook shut and slid it below the bed. She took a long breath and huff it out. She tried not to remember that moment. She was the cause of Dipper humiliation. She shouldn't trust that blonde since the day she arrived in Gravity Falls. She…

"I know you're upset. But eventually, you have to forgive her." Wendy interjected her thoughts.

"Are we going to go through this again? She felt that it was over since she left the truck. But nope, she was wrong. Wendy was onto her back and it made her annoyed more than ever.

"Listen to your heart Mabel, not your head. You know deep down, you forgive her."

"No…"She coldly said. "I won't forgive her."

"Mabel…"

"Enough. I'm tired and I need to sleep." Mabel stood up and faced Wendy who was sitting on her bed. Wendy sighed, stood straight and shoved the plate lightly to her hand.

"Finish it. I'm stuffed already." Wendy said half-heartedly as she went back to her bed across the room. She proceeded to change into her nightwear and went to the bathroom to brush her teeth. Mabel stood here silently as she held the plate. She felt a slight guilt for responding like that to Wendy _._ What she had become? She never talk like that to Wendy, she never yell profanity words to Stan or ignoring Soos since she came here. She would never hated someone for this long. She had become somebody she hated to be. If Dipper would see her like this… If Dipper would…

Mabel broke down, sat straight on her bed, still holding the plate. She tried to wipe her tears away, but it kept coming down. She's tired of being like this, but she had to in order to protect herself, to keep herself from being hurt. She couldn't remember the last time she laughed since she arrived here. Why the universe would hated so much on her?

Wendy was just drying her hair with a towel when she heard a sobbing from the room. She immediately ran into the room to see what's going on. To her shock, Wendy saw Mabel was crying on the bed, not moving since she left for the bathroom.

"Mabel, what's wrong?" asked Wendy as she slowly approached Mabel. She noticed that the plate was still held on her hand and the sandwich hasn't been touched. Gently, Wendy took the plate away from Mabel's hand and put it aside.

"Wendy…" Mabel slowly called her out. She lifted her head to see Wendy who was now kneeling in front of her. "I'm a horrible person." She blurted out.

Wendy furrowed her brow when she heard this. Why would she think of herself like that?

"No you're not."

"Yes I am."

"Mabel…"

"I'd hurt your feelings, I yelled at Grunkle Stan, I ignored Soos, I… I don't know why I hated Pacifica so much, but I wish I could forgive her… I just…" Mabel couldn't keep going anymore, she covered her face with her hand, trying to hold the tears back from falling down anymore.

Wendy reached for her chin and slowly lifted her head. "Look at me." Mabel slowly fixated her eyes to Wendy. "Mabel, ever since you and Dipper came here to Gravity Falls, both of you had change most of people's lives in a positive way, including me. And you… "Wendy pointed her finger to her chest. "… Mabel Pines, you're the best, happiest, cheerful, positive person I've known ever." Wendy told her. Mabel began to crack a smile hearing that.

"And Dipper?"

Wendy chuckled. "Dipper is the coolest dork I've ever met in my life. He's like, waayyyyy better than every dude I've dated before. Nobody ever gave me a diamond before in my life."

What came next surprised Wendy. It's like a miracle; Mabel laughed, for the first time since she stepped in the Shack. Wendy's eyes were glistened with tears as she heard her laugh. She never thought of making her smile, or laugh at that point, but she did. She immediately wiped her tears away before Mabel noticed.

"You should finish the sandwich before you go to bed." She said as she picked the plate up and handed over to Mabel. She took the plate and slowly ate the last slice of sandwich. Wendy noticed how concentrated she ate it as she never ate anything since this evening.

"Here." Wendy took out a bottle of mineral water from her bagpacks. "I forgot to bring up some water, best you drink it up before choking." Mabel reluctantly took it and chugged the water down hard. She was definitely thirsty.

"If there's nothing else, I'll be across the room." Wendy informed to her as she made her way to her bed. It's been a quite hectic day and she felt her body slowly betraying her from keeping up any longer.

"Wendy?"

Wendy turned to the voice who called her from behind.

"Yes Mabel?"

"Thank you."

Wendy smiled. "Anytime, sis."

Mabel soon ate the remaining piece of her sandwich, chugged the remaining water from the bottle and put both the plate and the bottle on the table. She proceeded to change her clothes to her usual nightwear.

Retreating to her bed, she noticed Wendy was already in deep sleep. Mabel noticed that she was snoring, but not that loud. She must have been tired. Mabel reflected what happened today, it had been a stress for her, but it must have been a burden for Wendy to look after her. She knew that she haven't been easy on everyone. Wendy, Stan and even Soos tried to cheer her up again, but they tried too hard, and none of them worked… except for Wendy. She made her laugh again in a year of her tormented life. Her edge of lips twitched a smile, she continued to shut off the lamp and her for her bed.

"Goodnight Wendy." Mabel said as she pulled her blanket, covering herself in the cold night.

* * *

Stan woke up early this morning. He's already in his "Mr. Mystery" outfit as he wanted to open the shop early today. He was making pancakes as Wendy entered the kitchen. She then took a seat at the table, pour some coffee into her cup and yawn while sipping.

"Good morning." Stan greeted her nonchalantly. He then flipped two pieces of pancakes onto Wendy's plate. Wendy replied with a grunt. She was too lazy to say anything. She looked at the time, it was 8 in the morning. Wendy groaned as she slammed her head lightly onto the table. Why would she woke up this early?

"Where's Mabel?" Stan asked.

"Sleeping." Wendy said while covering her face in her arm.

"Did she… ate the sandwich last night?"

"Yup."

"That's good…"

Stan proceeded to take a seat across the table. He began to tap his fingers. Wendy noticed this and began to ask anything wrong. Stan was wondering his gaze outside when he let out a long sigh.

"Mabel needs to go to school."

This made Wendy sat upright on the chair. "What are you talking about?" she demanded from Stan.

"She needs her education if she stays here." Stan implied as he sipped his coffee. "Besides, summer is like a month away. She still got time to learn something."

"Stan, you realized that Mabel wasn't ready for anything like that yet."

"I know, but what choice do we have? Ford's already moved out to Nevada, I'm out of the question and you dropped out of college to support your family." Stan sighed. "Look Wendy, I know you care about Mabel, and so am I. Kid got bright future ahead of her. She's just… confused and angry now. That is why I'm glad that you're here. You gotta give her chance to settle herself in Gravity Falls again." The old man said as he fiddled with his fingers.

Wendy gaze at him. He was processing what the man had said to him. He wasn't wrong. Mabel couldn't be left out in her education. She sighed. "Alright, but we gotta ask Mabel first if she's ready to do this or-"

"I'll go." Mabel interrupted. Wendy and Stan turned around to see her standing at the kitchen entrance. She was still in her nightwear

"Mabel, how much did you heard?" Wendy asked with a raised brow.

"Everything." Mabel answered as she joined them at the table. She took the liberty to pour herself a cup of coffee. Stan immediately placed some pancakes onto her plate in front of her.

"Well, looks like your ninja skills still effective." Stan jokingly said. Mabel chuckled to his joke, but immediately frowned.

"Mabel, sweetie, what's wrong?" Stan noticed her sudden change of expression. Mabel's hand was clenching into fists and she was looking down.

"Grunkle Stan?" she called him out in a trembling voice.

"Yes Mabel? What is it-OOF!" Stan suddenly was attacked by her sudden hug.

"I'm sorry for yelling at you." Mabel said as she buried her face into his shoulder. Stan could feel her hug tightening, making him quite hard to breathe.

"Mabel, it's alright. I understand. You've been through hell and back. But we're all here for you." He comforted her while rubbing her back. "Now sweetie, could you release me from your death hug? Because the old man here can't breathe..."

Mabel noticed this and quickly pulled herself away. "Sorry." Mabel sheepishly said as she wiped her tears away. Stan coughed up a little and readjusted his jacket and fez. "No sweat kid."

Wendy smiled at the scene. She knew that Mabel was slowly becoming herself once more. Coping with what she'd been through was hard, but with her family and friends around her, she will be better.

"So, you're ready to go back to school?" Wendy asked while forking up some pancakes.

"Yeah, rather than sitting around in the Shack and do nothing? I could use some new perspective." Mabel answered.

"Alright then, Soos will take you to school after breakfast." Stan told Mabel. This made Wendy concerned.

"Stan, maybe I should send her to school?"

"Give Soos a chance. She haven't talk to him yet since she arrived here. Besides, you've been slacking your job for far too long." Stan grumpily said. Wendy groaned in frustration hearing this, but didn't reply anymore. She understood too well.

"Alright, alright." Wendy complied. "Like you give me a raise or something." She murmured.

"What is that you're saying?" Stan interjected her murmuring.

"Nothing!" Wendy immediately shut up and continued eating her pancakes.

Mabel snickered a little bit, making both Wendy and Stan smiled.

* * *

"You ready?" Wendy asked Mabel who was packing up her bag. She still wore her dark blue sweater, jeans and snickers.

"Ready as I'll ever be." She replied as she grabbed her cap from the bedpost.

"You don't… bringing any knife with you, do you?" Wendy cautiously asked her.

"I made a promise, remember?"

"Not to me." Wendy crossed her arms.

Mabel gave her a reassurance smile. "I promise, I didn't bring any harmful objects and I won't hurt myself."

This made Wendy breathe a little easier. She then pulled out something from her pocket and gave it to Mabel.

"Here, wear this." Wendy said as she placed it onto Mabel's hand. She examined the object that was in her hand. It was a necklace, with the exact diamond Wendy had.

"Wendy, this is yours…" Mabel reminded her.

"I know, but I want you to have one. I got mine." Wendy pulled out her necklace and showed it to Mabel. True, it has the same diamond. "Make it as your lucky pendant." Wendy added as she let out a smile.

Mabel let out a faint smile. Wendy smiled back but what surprised her was she was now being hugged by Mabel.

"Thank you Wendy." Mabel said while tightening her hug. Wendy began to feel suffocating.

"You're… welcome… Mabel…. can't… breathe…."

Mabel immediately released the hug and awkwardly stared at Wendy. She was huffing a little bit for air. Wendy looked back at her, and they both started to laugh.

Both of them exited the room and proceeded downstairs towards the gifts shop. Soos was already waiting at the front door.

"You dudette ready?" Soos excitedly asked Mabel.

Mabel nodded and followed the handyman to his truck. Wendy stood in front of the shop and bid them farewell as they head out to the town.

 _I hope she'll be fine._ Wendy thought to herself.

On the way to school, Soos and Mabel didn't interact. Mabel was staring out of the window and Soos nervously gripped the steering wheel. He really wanna talk to her, but he's afraid that she would bark back at him.

"So uuhh, Mabel. You're going to stay here with us huh?" Soos asked in a cautious tone.

"Yeah, seems like it." Mabel replied in a flat tone.

"Listen dude, if you need anything, I mean, anything, you can call me for it."

Mabel shifted her seat a little bit. "Listen Soos, I'm… sorry for ignoring you. I'm just… I don't know, I was too cranky to talk to anyone I guess." Mabel confessed as she hung her head down.

"Hey, no worries. I understand. You need time for these things, and I didn't mind if you want more time for yourself. Besides, Soos is always here for his dude." Soos gave her a reassurance pat behind her back.

"Thanks, Soos."

"No problem hambone."

As they were chatting, Gravity Falls High slowly appeared in front of them. Soos pulled over to the front entrance.

"You sure you'll be fine by yourself in there?" Soos asked.

"I'll be fine, Soos." Mabel gave her a reassurance smile as she hopped off the truck.

"Alright then, call me or Wendy if you wanna lift back home." Soos said as he made a U-turn back to the Shack. Now it was Mabel, alone in front of the school entrance. She took a deep breath and made her first step towards the entrance.

 _Everything's gonna be fine Mabel, everything will be alright._ Mabel mentally reassured herself as she entered the school and headed for the office.

* * *

The first two period of class was English, which bored Pacifica to death. Still, she was wondering her thoughts to what happened last night between her and Mabel. She was so shocked to see Mabel behaving like that and didn't even expected to hear her statement like that.

 _Because the Mabel you knew died with him._

That sentence lingered in her mind until today. Why would Mabel say that? She also noticed that her arms were bandaged and her left cheek was scarred badly. What happened to her after she left for home since that incident?

Pacifica's wondered thoughts were interrupted by her English teacher, Miss Brennan, who was going to announce something in front of her class.

"Alright class, we've got a new student who was transferred from California today. She will be with us until she graduates here in Gravity Falls High."

"New student?" Pacifica murmured.

"Please come in." Miss Brennan called the new student who was standing outside the class. Slowly, the student entered the class and stood besides her. The student was wearing a dark blue hoodie, a jean and a sneakers. There was a washed out blue pine tree cap covering her head. Pacifica's jaw dropped and instant cold went down her whole body when that new student spoke.

"My name is Mabel Pines. I was transferred from Piedmont High in California. I've been here during most of the summer before with my brother… and… and…" Mabel pursed her lips. Her vision went down to the ground. She couldn't continue anymore. An awkward silence filled the whole class.

"Uuhh, alright Mabel. Thank you for the introduction. Now, you may take your seat beside… Pacifica there." She pointed out to where Pacifica sat. Pacifica was shifting her seat uncomfortably. She was nervous when she saw Mabel approaching her. Was she going to say 'hi'? Was she going to ignore her? She was prepared for any remarks Mabel about to make.

Their eyes finally met. Both of them were staring at each other for a brief second. Then, Mabel turned her gaze away and sat at her table. Pacifica was taken aback by that gesture. She looked at Mabel once more and tried to call her out, sadly, Mabel ignored her. Pacifica felt hurt when she ignored her. Maybe she would confront her during recess afterwards.

"Alright class, please turn to page 54 and read the first essay. Afterwards, I will be handing out a pop quiz regarding the story you've read." The whole class groaned hearing that they're going to face a pop quiz.

* * *

Recess was a time of relaxation and chaos. The cafeteria were brimming with people who tend to eat, to sit or to continue their reading pleasure whenever they find comfortable. As for Pacifica, she had her own table which was separated with others. This table was meant for her and her so-called elite friend. People would often look down on them and tend to avoid them as far as possible. Even though Pacifica wasn't comfortable with this kind of thing anymore, she needed to show her snobby attitude to "uphold" the Northwest family status. She felt disgusted to be among her so-called friends which their parents paid them to be around her. She missed to hang out with her real friends; the Twins. But as far as she sees now, the relationship between her and Mabel wasn't that good anymore. She wanted to make amends with her, but after what happened last night at the town festival, Pacifica needed to think of another way to get near her.

Pacifica ignored most of her friends conversation. She was busy scanning the cafeteria for Mabel. But she's nowhere to be found. Pacifica wondered where she would be.

"Do you guys see the new student today?" Tiffany started the daily gossip by mentioning the new student which Pacifica knew well, Mabel.

"Yeah, I heard that she's the one who was involved in the freak accident last year. Her stupid brother died few weeks later." Amanda interjected.

 _Don't you fucking dare say that about Dipper!_

"Did you see her face? She got that nasty scars on her left cheek. And look at her clothes, it's disgusting." Rachel added.

 _Shut up you stupid bitch!_

"What do you think Pacifica?" Tiffany asked her.

"I think you're all fucking sick." Pacifica spat. She immediately left the table and stormed out from the cafeteria. Everyone at the table was stunned by her sudden outburst.

* * *

Mabel was wondering alone around the school while waiting for the recess to end. She wasn't in the mood to stuff anything down her stomach. She was thinking of how would she talked to Pacifica after her outburst last night. She wanted to forgive her, but still, she was still hesitated to say that. She was still angry and but at the same time, she wanted to forgive her. Her mind was conflicted with this choices. She grunted and pulled over her hoodie to cover her head. She made her way through the hallway.

As she walked, Mabel could heard people around her was talking about her, whispering about the accident that she were in last year. She gritted her teeth and clenching her fists as she hated to hear it. It was enough pain to even remembered it and now she needed to hear others talking about it. She quicken her pace. As she was going off the hallway, she was blocked by Tiffany. Mabel recognized her as she always hung out with Pacifica. Strangely, she didn't see Pacifica anywhere near her.

"Hey there, Mabel." Tiffany scoffed at her. Mabel started to feel threatened. She clenched her first, ready to strike if shit went down.

"What do you want?" Mabel asked her. Her eyes cautiously trailed Tiffany as she walked around her.

"Oh you know, just wanna meet with the new student." Tiffany was now in front of her, face to face. "How's your life ever since… that accident?" That question ticked off Mabel a little bit, but she tried to remain calm.

"I don't have time for this." Mabel exclaimed as she made her way passed Tiffany, but she was once again blocked by her.

"You're not going anywhere." Tiffany scowled. She then snapped her finger and her party began to appear behind Mabel. She was now surrounded.

"What are you going to do now, Mabel? Call your brother for help? Oops, I forgot, he's dead!" Tiffany then laughed, followed by her company behind Mabel. Mabel could feel fury burning up inside of her. She gritted her teeth, her first ready to strike Tiffany's face.

"Leave me. Alone." Mabel warned her. She was now a ticking time bomb, ready to explode. But Tiffany ignored her and continued to make fun of her. Mabel couldn't hear what she said, her ears were now defended by the rage she was holding back.

"That's a pretty scar you got there. What did you do? You blow someone's dick?" Tiffany smirked as she teased Mabel's scar on her left cheek.

 _That is it. The bitch going down._

Without warning, Tiffany's face was hit hard by a fist. She pummeled down to the ground. The others were shocked by what Mabel had done. She had hit Tiffany, one of Gravity Falls richest brat. Mabel turned around and confronted the others.

"Anyone wanna talk more shit about me and my brother?!" Mabel barked. They didn't need to wait more to see what would go down. They scampered away from the hallway. Everyone on the hallway started to gather around the enraged Mabel and Tiffany, her nose was bleeding and was on the floor.

Mabel turned back to her. She knelt down and grabbed her blue jacket. Mabel pulled her closer to her face. "You listen to me. I don't want to see you near me, or hear you talk shit about my brother. The next time I hear that, I'll fucking end you." Mabel barked at her. To her surprised Tiffany laughed.

"You think threatening me will make me stop? Do you even know who I am? I'm Tiffany Brennan, and I can make your life turned upside down in a way you can't possibly imagine!" She barked back at Mabel. Mabel wasn't impressed by this. She held up her first, ready to strike her face once again. But Mabel could feel her hand being held by someone. She turned around to see Pacifica was holding her clenched fist.

"Mabel, don't." Pacifica pleaded.

Mabel glared at her. She was quite stunned that Pacifica Northwest would intervene something like this. "Let go." Mabel said sternly.

"Not until you let her go." Pacifica shot back. "She's not worth it." She added.

Mabel froze there for a while. She was still holding Tiffany by her jacket's collar, maintaining eye contact between the two of them. Finally, Mabel let go of her and marched through the crowds that were watching the commotion. Tiffany slowly picked herself up from the ground, glaring at Pacifica.

"What the fuck Paz? You sided with that commoner now?" Tiffany said.

"You know she didn't do anything Tiff. You're just being an asshole." Pacifica shot back at her.

Tiffany scoffed. "Wait till your parents heard about this." She said as she pushed her way through the crowds, leaving the area.

Pacifica looked around. The crowd started to disperse. She then decided to go look for Mabel. She jogged through the hallway and finally she found her outside of the building, sitting below the tree. Slowly, she took a breath and started approaching her.

"Mabel, you alright?" she asked as she noticed Mabel's knuckles were bleeding a little bit. Mabel looked at her for a while and turned her gaze away.

"I'm fine…" Mabel replied nonchalantly.

"Mabel…" Pacifica took a seat beside her. Mabel shifted her seat away from her, as if wanted to avoid being close to her. Pacifica felt hurt when she did that. Usually Mabel was the one who wanted to sit near her friend as close as possible, up to the point that person would feel uncomfortable. But now, she just wanted to be alone.

"Those girls, they're a royal prick. You don't need to fight with them."

Mabel turned her vision back to Pacifica. "Aren't you one of them?" She narrowed her eyes.

"No! No I'm not. I'm better than them. I had to be with them because my parents paid them to be my friends…" Pacifica turned her head down. "But I don't have any friends… I only got you, Dipper and Wendy…"

Mabel frowned hearing that. She felt bad for her. Last night she went outburst in front of her, saying hurtful things to her and here she was, sitting beside her, feeling guilty and sympathy for this rich girl that used to be her friend… or still her friend.

"Pacifica..." Mabel called her out. Pacifica lifted her head to see her. "I'm… I'm…" She stammered. She composed herself up to spit it out. "I'm sorry." She exclaimed. "I'm sorry for everything." She wiped her eyes that were now filling with tears.

"What? Why would you be sorry for?" Pacifica was confused as why would Mabel apologize to her.

"I was mad, I was angry. I-I didn't mean to shout those things at you last night. I was so angry." She started to hyperventilate. "Wh-when I saw you, I saw Dipper in his most miserable state. I… I'm so sorry… I know you didn't mean to hurt him… I… I…" Mabel broke down. She curled herself into a fetal position, wrapping her arms around her legs. She buried her face into her arms.

Pacifica sat frozen beside her. She haven't see Mabel Cursed at people like last night or see her threw a punch like moments ago and let alone seeing her breaking down crying like this. She didn't even know what to do.

"Hey, hey. It's alright. I understand Mabel. You have every reason to be mad at me." She slowly rubbed Mabel's back to comfort her. It felt weird comforting people as she haven't done it before. "Mabel, look at me." Pacifica gently lifted her chin. She could see Mabel eyes were now bloodshot from crying and her tears dampened her cheek.

"I'm the one who should apologize, not you. Dipper suffered because of me, and because of my parents. I didn't mean to hurt him. Hell, I didn't even know that night was a total sham just to humiliate him." Pacifica explained. She remembered how her father approved her request to bring Dipper along, then when she came back from the Shack after meeting him, Preston immediately revealed his true intention in allowing her to bring Dipper.

* * *

 _It was a cloudy afternoon when the Mystery Golf Cart entered the Northwest Manor. Dipper had insisted in sending Pacifica home after she came over to the Shack. She had declined him, but he kept pushing in sending her home, so without any other choice, she accepted._

 _The cart halted in front of the entrance. Pacifica then turned to him._

 _"Thanks Dipper for sending me back home." She said._

 _"It's no problem Paz. It's at least I can do." Dipper gave out a smile._

 _Pacifica smiled back. She thought Dipper became cuter throughout the summer. He had a goatee and his arms are quite buff, man Pacifica didn't expect puberty would hit Dipper this hard. He was cute, and she was lucky to have him as a boyfriend._

 _"Earth to Pacifica." Dipper waved his hand over her face, snapping her back to reality. She immediately blushed._

 _"I can't believe you were dreaming while I'm talking here." Dipper teased him. Pacifica glared at him._

 _"Shut up, Pines." She retorted, still trying to hide her blushes. Dipper just laugh seeing her acted out of character like that._

 _"Whatever. Don't forget about tonight." Pacifica said as she stepped off the cart._

 _"I won't. Besides, what would a girlfriend do if there's no boyfriend for tonight dance? " he teased. Pacifica scowled. She went around the driver side where Dipper were, pulled him close to her and kissed him. Dipper's eyes widened as his lips unexpectedly met her lips for a full five seconds. Pacifica then pulled herself away._

 _"Just shut up and go home, nerd. Be ready for tonight. I'll came over to pick you up." Pacifica then walked away to her front entrance of her house. She saw Dipper stammered and immediately ignited the cart's engine. Pacifica couldn't help but laugh at his awkwardness._

 _"Alright. I… I see you tonight." Dipper said as he made his way out from the manor. Pacifica waved her goodbye. She smiled to herself. Tonight would be a great night. Her father approved her request to bring Dipper and it might be a good time to introduce him officially to everyone as her boyfriend. She stepped inside the manor and closed the door._

 _"I'm home!" Pacifica shouted to the vast empty living room. She made her way to their parents' den where they spent their time doing business or just sat there, reading some newspaper or magazines. As she entered the den, she saw Preston and Priscilla was sitting on their respective couch._

 _"Pacifica, dear. Sit." Preston ordered her. Pacifica knew something's up. Cautiously, she sat at the couch across their parents._

 _"Pacifica. Do you know the reason we let you bring that boy tonight?" Preston began to ask._

 _"Because… you finally like him?" Pacifica guessed._

 _Preston just laughed. "Nonsense. We want to get rid of him, from you."_

 _Pacifica couldn't believe what she just heard. "Wh-what? What do you mean?"_

 _"You know what he meant. He's a commoner. And you sticking with him is not acceptable." Priscilla intervened._

 _"As soon as he enters this manor, you will immediately bring him the center of the hall. He then soon learn his place in making friends with people like us." Preston said._

 _"NO!" Pacifica shouted. "I won't let you do that to him." She sat up and head for the front door. She needed to warn Dipper._

 _"But darling, if you don't complied, I will, and I mean it, I will do something worse than humiliating him to you, and him." Preston shot back. Pacifica froze. She slowly turned around._

 _"What do you mean?"_

 _"Oh you know, since the bell didn't work on you anymore, I say this whip will." Preston slowly pulled a whip from behind the couch. Pacifica turned pale as she saw that whip._

 _"And… what about Dipper?" Pacifica fearfully asked._

 _"Oh him? Let's just say, I know people that can show him what it feels like having a stiff legs." Preston smirked._

 _Pacifica realized that she had fallen into his father's trap. She couldn't resist getting whipped by her father anymore. She just… couldn't. But Dipper… She needed to tell him somehow._

 _"Fine. I'll follow your stupid plan." Pacifica turned her face away, holding her tears._

 _"Good, because that's what the Northwest will do." Preston said. "A limo will be send to his hovel and picked him up. Meanwhile you, young lady, will stay here to… greet him."_

* * *

 _People started to arrive at the Manor as expected. Most of them were Preston's associates in business and their relatives. Pacifica hated all of them. She was standing near the front door, waiting for the limo that Dipper's on to arrive. She needed to warn him fast. She felt uneasy when people started to gather in the hall. Then she saw a limo arrived. It stopped right in front of the entrance and Dipper stepped out from it, wearing a full tuxedo suit._

 _"Dipper!" Pacifica ran to him and hug him._

 _"Woah, hold it back Princess. I'm sorry that I'm quite late. Mabel had to stitch thi-" before Dipper could finish, Pacifica cut her off._

 _"Dipper listen to me, you need to-"_

 _"Aaahh! Dipper Pines. The man of honor." Preston interjected Pacifica from behind before she could warn him._

 _"Mr. Northwest. I would like to thank you for inviting me to your event." Dipper shook his hand._

 _"Well, anything to make my daughter happy." Preston gave out a smirk to him. "Now, let's go in before the party started." Preston retreated himself back into the manor, but managed to give Pacifica a warning glare as not to do anything stupid._

 _"That was awfully nice of him." Dipper said to Pacifica._

 _"Dipper… I… I…" Pacifica stammered. She wanted to warn him, telling him to go home, but she couldn't. She could bare that whip, but seeing Dipper not walking forever? She just couldn't._

 _"What is it Paz? Something wrong?" Dipper asked as they entered the Manor._

 _"Nothing… It's nothing." Pacifica quickly said._

 _"You acting weird." Dipper raised a brow, but decided to brush it off._

 _Both of them entered the massive hall. Dipper could see people were already there. He looked around to see someone familiar, but none of them that he knew. Meanwhile, Pacifica glanced at Preston who was standing with Priscilla across the hall. He was signaling her to bring Dipper to the center of the hall. Pacifica slowly yanked Dipper's hand, making him follow her._

 _"Paz, what are you doing?" Dipper asked, but she didn't answered him. Inside, she was internally screaming and cursing herself for doing this. She then placed him at the center. Dipper was confused by all of this._

 _"Paz, what is this?" Dipper demanded. He began to look agitated. He turned around and see people started to gather around him. He then turned back to Pacifica, but she was already far from him._

 _"I'm sorry Dipper…" Pacifica said as she held back her tears._

 _"Paz?" Dipper called her. But Preston came through the crowd and stood in front of him._

 _"Everyone!" Preston began. "Look at this boy, this… commoner." Preston pointed his finger at him. "He thinks he can be with my daughter. He thinks he can fit well with our place. But no, he's not." Preston glared at him._

 _"What? What is all this?" Dipper felt uncomfortable. He wanted to get out now._

 _"Oh Dipper Pines. You know that the Pines is always the lowest of the lowest in this town." Preston said. "And here you are, dreaming to be with my daughter. Do you realized that you're just a ratchet scum? You don't belong here. You. Are. Pathetic."_

 _Dipper couldn't believe what he'd heard. Did Pacifica tricked her into coming here just to get him humiliated? What is happening?_

 _"Look, Mr. Northwest, I truly love your daughter. Even though I'm not rich like you, I… I…"_

 _"You're what? Could you give him wealth? Or is it so called… happiness?" Preston scoffed. "Everyone, this boy could make my daughter happy without any wealth!"_

 _Everyone started to laugh and made fun of him. Calling him names. Dipper couldn't stand it anymore. He ran through the crowds, pushing himself to the front door. Pacifica then backed away slowly and ran after him._

 _"Dipper! Wait!" Pacifica shouted at him. She managed to grab his arm when they both reach the front gate. Dipper aggressively pulled back his hand from her hand._

 _"Are you satisfied? Are you?!" Dipper screamed._

 _"Dipper, listen to me first, I was trying to warn you, but…"_

 _"But you didn't. You let me be humiliated in front of them and you join them." Dipper gritted his teeth. Without realizing, he could feel tears dampening his cheeks._

 _"Dipper, I love you. I don't mean this to happen." Pacifica pleaded._

 _"No, you mean this to happen." Dipper turned away. He felt betrayed. "I gave my heart to you, and this is how you played me. I trusted you."_

 _Pacifica didn't know how to respond anymore. She knew Dipper was already broken. Slowly, she put her hand onto his shoulder, in hoping that she could reason with him again. Unfortunately, he brushed it off and walked away._

 _Pacifica knew, she would not see him again…_

* * *

"When I heard you guys were in accident, I tried to sneak out from the manor to get to the hospital, but I was caught and… and…" Pacifica couldn't continue anymore, all she could do was slipped down her shirt by the shoulder to show the partial scars she had on the shoulder. Mabel was stunned.

"Paz, wha-where did you get this?" Mabel slowly touched the scars. She could felt pain that Pacifica had gone through.

"This is what I getting to close with Dipper. But what can I do, I loved him, and I would do anything for him." Pacifica slipped up her shirt to cover it back.

"Oh Paz…" Mabel pulled her into a hug, embracing her. "I forgive you. Dipper forgive you." She said. Pacifica cried into her shoulder.

"I'm sorry." She muffled. "I'm so sorry for what happened to both of you." Pacifica started to sob.

"It's fine Paz… It's fine…" Mabel comforted her. "I'm alright, you're alright." She whispered as she rubbed Pacifica's in comfort.

* * *

It was evening when the Shack's business finally ended. Wendy was so exhausted and too tired to stand up anymore. Today's tours was really crazy. The tourists were acting like degenerates and she had to deal with them. Dealing with crazy people is okay, but with people that getting on her nerves? Oh man, she just prayed to God not to go full Yankville.

"I don't understand. How can he don't want my Goldie statue? It's totally a money making attractions and he refused my offer!" Stan questioned while walking back and forth in the gifts shop.

"Urrgghhh, this is literally dumb for me to care." Wendy grimaced. "Stan, you tried to sell that statue since like, four years ago. You even married him in Vegas. And for the record, no one wants that dumb rusty statue anymore." Wendy said annoyingly.

"Correction. First, it is not me who married him, it was Ford. Second, don't you dare say things like that to ol' Goldie!" Stan covered the statue's ear. "He has feelings too you know."

Wendy chuckled. "Yeah, whatever you say man." Wendy replied while flipping through her magazine. She then looked at the time, it was late. Mabel should finished her school now.

"Hey Soos? Did Mabel call or texted you?" Wendy shouted towards the "Employees Only" door.

"What?" a faint voice could be heard from the ceiling. Wendy looked up to the ceiling.

"I said, did Mabel call or texted you?" Wendy shouted once again, but at the same time was wondering what the heck was Soos doing upstairs. Suddenly, the ceiling came crashing down with Soos. Stan and Wendy jumped a little bit when it nearly hit them. Wendy immediately ran to him.

"Oh man, you okay dude?" Wendy began to pull the man-child from the ground. Soos slowly got up with her help and brushed the dust that was all over him.

"I'm okay Wendy." Soos said as he looked up to the hole in the ceiling. "I can fix that."

"Yeah, you better be." Stan said in dismissive tone. "What the heck were you doing anyway? I thought I asked you to fix the sink?" he demanded the explanation.

"The sink wasn't the problem Mr. Pines. It was the pipe up there." He said as he pointed out to the pipe in the ceiling beneath the hole. "As you can see, the pipe there is now… swollen with something in it."

"Probably just another balls of hair that went down the sink." Wendy said. Then she remembered about Mabel.

"Hey Soos, did Mabel call or texted you?" Wendy turned to him as she pulled out her phone.

"Nah man. I've been waiting for her to call or text, but she never did." Soos replied as he picked up his hat from the ground.

Wendy thought for a moment. Then she marched towards the door. "I'm picking her up."

As she stepped out from the gifts shop, she noticed a limousine drove in and stopped in front of the Shack. Wendy saw two figure stepped out from the limo. It was Mabel and Pacifica. Wendy shot up her eyebrows seeing the two of them, in a limo, walking together, towards her.

"Hey Wendy." Mabel greeted with a faint smile.

"Hey there Wendy." Pacifica added.

"Uuhhh… hey." Wendy looked back and forth between Mabel and Pacifica. "So…" Wendy wasn't so sure how to ask. "…both of you are cool?"

Mabel shot up a grin. "Yeah, we're cool." She said as she stepped up near her. Wendy noticed her hand was wrapped in bandages. Wendy eyes immediately widened.

"Mabel, what did you do in school?" she demanded while gently took her hand for inspection.

"Nothing. It's…" Mabel sighed. She knew she couldn't steer from this. "I got into a fight."

"A fight? On a first day?" Wendy raised her concerns more. "With who can you possibly screwed around with to involve in a fight on your first day of school?" Wendy asked. Then she mentally realized that she questioned Mabel like a mother worrying for her daughter. It doesn't matter, she promised Dipper to keep her safe and she will keep that promise.

"It's Tiffany." Pacifica interjected. "But it's nothing big though. She's fine. I'll handle her myself, soon." She added in a reassuring tone.

"Wendy, relax. Just relax. I'm fine." Mabel rubbed her arm to calm her down when she saw Wendy's face was now un distressed. She never seen her worried like this before.

"How can you be fine when you got into a fight with one of the richest girl in the town?" Wendy shot back. She knew about Tiffany. Well, who hasn't? Everyone in town knew her. Ever since Pacifica kept a low profile and "transformed" herself into a better person, it was Tiffany who reigned her throne in becoming the snobbiest, richest, bitchy girl in Gravity Falls. To make matter worst, the Brennan family was much worse than the Northwest. They basically own the town, from a hawker stall to the giant mall, from a lumberjack factory to a wool factory, they owned them. Every single cent will be flowed into the Brennan Company and this made them the richest aristocrat family in Gravity Falls. It's hard to believe that the Northwest would fall one level to them, bit what can people say, the Northwest only rich because of a mudflaps factory.

"Wendy, chill. I'll take care of Tiffany." Pacifica patted her back.

"Well, if you say so." Wendy said. "Listen, Pacifica, I wanna talk to you alone for a minute." She then pulled Pacifica away from Mabel. "And you, missy, go get something to eat. NOW." Wendy instructed. Mabel immediately walked to the gifts shop and entered it.

Wendy turned back to Pacifica. She glared at her. "Listen to me. Mabel's hurt long enough. She came back here so she can have a piece of her mind from the hellish home she was from. I know you had something going on between you and them before, and maybe it has been resolved now. But I swear, if you ever hurt her again…"

Pacifica then cut her off. "Wendy, I understand. She told me everything. I won't hurt her. She's my friend… my only friend I got, and you too." Pacifica gave a reassuring smile to Wendy.

Wendy sighed. "I hope that's true." She turned her gaze to the Shack. "Mabel's changed, and I was worried that she… won't be herself anymore. I just… I promised him that I'll take care of her." Wendy turned down her vision to the ground.

Pacifica frowned. She knew to whom Wendy made promise to, and she would not bother to ask about it. "Wendy, if you need any help, just call me. In the meantime, I can watch over her at school. She's been crazy enough today, I'm not surprise if she would be any crazier tomorrow."

"Thanks Pacifica. I owe you one." Wendy said.

"You owe me nothing. I owe you guys a lot. This is at least I can do to help her back on her feet again." She said back while she looked at her watch. "I need to get home now." Pacifica said with her pace quicken back to the limo. While she entered the limo, she took a last look at Wendy. "I can pick her up for school tomorrow, if that's alright with you."

Wendy smiled. "Yeah, that's alright."

Pacifica smiled back. "You know, you sounded like a mother now, which is rather nice." She said with a chuckle. "See you tomorrow."

The limo then drove away from the Shack, heading back to the town. Wendy stood froze there, thinking about the last sentence Pacifica had said. Does she really sounded like a mother? Wendy shrugged and head back to the Shack.

* * *

Mabel was enjoying some sandwiches Stan had made for her after she entered the Shack. Both of them were getting along better since the first day she arrived. Stan was the one who enjoyed talking to her while Soos just sat there in silence, smiling while watching them converse.

"Soos, you didn't touch your sandwich yet." Mabel said to Soos when she noticed the handyman haven't eaten yet.

"Oh, it's fine hambone. I just rather wanna seat her for a while before I continue fixing those ceilings." Soos replied.

"Soos, you gotta eat if you wanna work here." Stan then said. He wasn't happy when his trusted handyman declined his sandwich.

Soos shrugged and took a bite of the sandwich. It was delicious as always. "Thanks, Mr. Pines."

"Don't mentioned it. Just get back to work when you done eating. That ceilings need patching if I wanna open my business again." Stan said with a grouchy front.

Mabel could not help but smile. She missed all of this. Seeing Grunkle Stan being a grumpy old man, Soos saying wisdom words and Wendy as her big sister again, if only Dipper was here...

"You guys enjoying sandwiches without me? This is unacceptable." Wendy said in an upset tone as she entered the kitchen.

"There's plenty of sandwiches left Wendy. Stop yammering and come sit with us." Stan called her out while pouring some orange juice for her. Wendy obliged and took a seat beside Mabel. She took a large bite at the sandwich. Damn, Stan knew how to make a perfect sandwich.

"You should sell these sandwiches you made, Stan. It's really good." Wendy suggested to Stan as she took a sip of her orange juice.

Stan looked back at Wendy, eyes widened. "You really think my sandwich is good?"

"Yeah Grunkle Stan. It's delicious. Better than Greasy's if you ask me." Mabel added. This made Stan intrigued.

"I totally one hundred percent support their statement Mr. Pines. Your sandwich is like a taste of heaven on the bud of my tongue." Soos interjected.

Stan smiled widely. He knew this is his opportunity to open another business besides tours. It would make a hella lot of money. "Alright then, you guys got me interested. Soos, tomorrow morning, we'll head to town to buy some supplies to make sandwiches." Stan pushed himself away from the table and stood. "I will call my sandwich… Stanwich!"

Everyone groaned hearing the name Stan just gave. It's just that terrible. Nevertheless, Wendy was happy to see Mabel being out of the shell. She hoped that the sweater-loving Mabel will come back.

* * *

"Hey Mabel, let's watch a movie tonight. I got this one from Thompson. He says this is the most best horrible movie ever made." Wendy told Mabel while showing a DVD box of the movie called, 'Birdemic'.

"Alright, you go on first, I'll be down in a second." Mabel replied as she stuffed her books back into her bag. She was just finishing her homework and she was pretty tired. Nonetheless, she felt it was appropriate to watch a movie before going to sleep. Wendy nodded and mouthed her "don't do anything stupid" before stepped out of the room. Mabel just chuckled and crossed her heart.

As she packing the book, she noticed there was something in the book shelves beside her study table. Mabel took a peek and she noticed a thick blue book covered with a gold plating on every edges of the book. She was curious. She slowly pulled the book from one of the shelf compartment. The book was dusty. She blew the dust away a little, revealing a very familiar symbol.

A Pine Tree symbol with a number 1 on it.

Mabel's eyes widened in shock. "It can't be." Mabel muttered. She flipped the cover to see the back of it.

PROPERTY OF DIPPER PINES.

Mabel's eyes watered with tears when she read the name. This is Dipper's journal. She found Dipper's journal. She quickly flipped through the first page and there was an entry dated three years ago.

 _"It's been two years since Great-Uncle Ford introduced me to his journals, and I supposed that it is now fitting to start mine. Most of the anomalies around the Gravity Falls has been recorded in Great-Uncle Ford's journal and this is just merely an extension of the notes he had made. Every details I can write about, I will write about it._

 _I will soon going to tell Mabel about my new journal, but I'll hold on to it first before telling her the news."_

Mabel then skimmed through the journals. True to Dipper's entry, it was just same as the old Journal, and it's just an extension in details of notes and drawings. Before Mabel could finished skimming through the book, Wendy shouted from downstairs, telling her the movie was about to start.

"Coming!" Mabel said as she hesitantly left the journal on the table. As Mabel shut the door, the journal flipped opened as the wind blew through the triangular window wasn't closed above it. The journal flipped to the page where it showed a series of drawing of sort of gateway towards another world. Besides the drawing, there was a sketches of a very familiar diamonds. And above the page, it was entitled;

 _GATEWAY TO THE AFTERLIFE._

* * *

 **Mabel has found Dipper's secret journal. Oh no... More to come. Also, I will lowered the angst after this. I truly hate to write angsty things, but hey, it is necessary for this story. Don't worry, Mabel will get back to her old self in no time.**

 **As usual, review if you like, favorite if you find it worthwhile your time and follow if you find this story interesting!**

 **WKH RQH HBH DOZDBV ZDWFKLQJ RYHU.**


	9. Learning to Walk Again

Wendy was awoken by the beeping sound of her alarm phone in her pocket. She slowly opened her eyes and scanned her surroundings. She realized that she was in the living room and the TV was still on. She pulled her phone and shut off the alarm. She noticed it was 9 in the morning. Wendy then remembered that she was watching a crappy movie until late night with Mabel…

 _Mabel. 9 o'clock. School._

 _Oh shit._

"Mabel!" Wendy screamed her name. She pushed herself away from the recliner she was on and looked around her. Mabel's not in the living room. Wendy rushed upstairs to the attic room only to find the room was empty.

"Oh man, where is she?" Wendy murmured worryingly. She then rushed downstairs to the kitchen. She saw Stan and Soos was making a lot of sandwiches that were now stacked on the kitchen table.

"Stan, Soos, have you seen Mabel?" Wendy was panting from her rushing ups and down the house. "She's super late for school." She added.

"Relax Wendy. Mabel's at school already. Pacifica picked her up this morning." Soos assured the redheaded girl.

"Did she bring any lunch? She didn't eat anything yesterday." Wendy asked Soos.

"Yup. Mr. Pines packed the Stanwiches for her." Soos replied. Wendy breathe a sigh relief when she heard that. Stan just laughed at Wendy when he saw her worrying like that.

"You sound like a mom now Wendy." Stan said as he tried to contain his laugher.

"Hey!" Wendy barked. "I was just… worried, okay?" Wendy voice now projected to Stan. But Stan was right, she was slowly becoming like a mother.

"You don't need to worry. Mabel can handle herself. She tried to wake you up this morning but you're so invested in your sleep, she decided to head off without telling you." Stan said.

Wendy sighed. "Thank god. I hope she's alright."

"Wendy, stop worrying about her. Now you better take a shower and help me out here. You're gonna sell me some Stanwiches today!" Stan ordered her.

Wendy groaned. "That's the lamest name I've heard since Stancakes." She murmured as she marched herself towards the bathroom.

"I heard that!" Stan screamed from the kitchen.

* * *

Mabel was filling her locker with the necessary books she needed for the school period. She was glad that Pacifica knocked on the door this morning before realizing she was late for school. Pacifica had picked her up in her own convertibles. She said that riding limo was too boring, so Pacifica decided to picked Mabel up personally.

Mabel was pulling books from her bag when she noticed that she had brought Dipper's journal with her. She froze for a while. She remembered that she had found the blue journal last night and she haven't told anyone about it. She even didn't finished going through the journal. Mabel was wondering if they were interesting stuffs in that journal. Maybe she could venture into the forest later after school session ended.

"Ready to head to class, Mabel?" a voice interrupted Mabel's thoughts. She immediately pushed the journal back into her bag and turned around. She realized it was Pacifica.

"Yeah, just a minute." Mabel said as she skimmed through her locker for the textbooks. "Aren't you suppose to be with your… posse?" Mabel asked her.

"Yeah. But I decided to stick with you now. They're royal pricks, remember? And I'm not like that anymore." Pacifica replied.

Mabel closed the the locker door and turned around to her. "Are you sure about this? Because I can hang out with Candy and Grenda. Besides, you need to keep your reputations in this school." She said as both of them started walking to class. Mabel just met Candy and Grenda this morning. Both of her summer friends were excited and surprised to see her as they didn't know that Mabel had been in school since yesterday. What they did know that a new student had punched Tiffany Brennan in the face.

"Mabel, my reputation had been tarnished since I've befriend with you guys. Besides, with Tiffany taking my place, I suppose that it would be easier for people not noticing me." Pacifica assured her.

"Still, people acknowledged the Northwest." Mabel added.

"Yeah, I can't do anything about that…" Pacifica said slowly. "So, any plans after school?" She diverted the topic.

Mabel thought for a while. Yeah, before heading to the woods, maybe she needed to stop there for a while.

"Actually, I do have a plan." Mabel said as both of the entered the class.

* * *

A pink convertibles slowly entered the cemetery that evening. The car strode slowly, passing every graves that were there. Mabel had told Pacifica to head here first before return to the Shack. Pacifica knew well what she wanted to do here. The car halted and Mabel stood out from the car. She immediately went to a peculiar grave while Pacifica followed suit.

Arriving at the grave, Mabel stood in front of it, stared at the tombstone that was carved with Pine Tree insignia.

 **DIPPER PINES**

 **1999-20xx**

 **GREATEST TWIN BROTHER IN THE WORLD**

"Hey there, bro-bro. It's me, Mabel, your alpha twin sister." Mabel chuckled a little bit mentioning to her brother that she's an alpha twin.

"It's been a year since I've seen you. Well, things kinda change while you're gone…" she sadly said. "But the great news is, I'm here in Gravity Falls! Mom let me stay here with Grunkle Stan. I'm sure you're as excited as I am… And look!" Mabel pulled out the blue journal and showed it to 'him'. "I found your dumb journal. You've been hiding this from me huh? You poophead, you know we're Mystery Twins, I should know about this too. I save your butts from that giant antelope remember? Well… things are different now… different…" she pursed her lips, she didn't know what she was rambling, she just missed talking nonsense with him. She tried to contain her tears away.

Mabel fell down to her knees. She let go of the journal and started crying. "Dipper, why did you have to leave? My life's been hell since you're gone. Dad's changed, mom's changed, and I changed. I can't take it anymore… Dipper… Please…" tears fell onto the soil as she lowered her head down. Pacifica slowly approached Mabel and knelt down too. She didn't realized tears were also falling down her cheeks. She tried to comfort Mabel as best as she can. Mabel turned to her and hugged her. She buried her face into her shoulder.

"Why did he have to leave?" her voice muffled from Pacifica's shoulder. Pacifica didn't know how to respond to this. She missed him too, but she can't imagine how painful for a sister to lose a brother, a twin brother. She tried her best to comfort her.

"Dipper want you to be strong, Mabel." Pacifica tried to calm her down. "He didn't leave us on purpose." She continued.

"I tried, but I can't anymore." Mabel said while pulling herself from the hug. "I don't want to be like this, Paz. I'm scared…"

"I know."

"I'm tired of this…"

"Mabel…"

"I'm alone…"

"MAYBELLINE ARIEL PINES." Pacifica snapped.

Mabel jerked her head up, taken aback by her tone.

"You're not alone. Dipper wouldn't want you to be like this. He never meant any of this. You just need to be yourself. Where's that Mabel who always cheerful and wear goofy sweaters on the heat of the summer? Everyone misses that Mabel. Now you're not being yourself. You're hiding, you don't need to be afraid. You don't need to be defensive. I'm here for you, Wendy's here for you, Soos and even your Grunkle Stan are here for you. Do you understand me?"

"Y-Yes." Mabel slowly nodded, wiping her tears away from her eyes. "Thank you, Paz."

Both of them sat in front of the grave for a good hour, reminiscing the good old times.

Before leaving, Mabel pulled away her blue Pine Tree cap and set it on the tombstone. She left it there. Pacifica's right, she needed to be herself, not someone else. They left the cemetery, leaving all the pain and sadness there.

* * *

When Pacifica and Mabel arrived at the Shack, they could see Stan was making his last tour in front of the gifts shop. The Mr. Mystery was presenting to the tourists a "Face-Rock".

"As you can see here, this is a 'Rock That Looks Like a Face-Rock'." Stan said as he showed the rock.

"Is it a face?" one of the tourists asked.

"No, it's a rock." Stan replied.

"Is it a face-rock?" Another one asked.

Stan rubbed his forehead. "It's a rock that looks like a face."

"Is it a rock-face?" Another tourist asked. At this point, Stan wanted to snap his cane shove it into anyone who asked that kind of question again.

"For the last time, it's a-"

"It's a metaphor." Mabel interrupted. "This rock is a metaphor that looks like a face." She explained with a sweetest grin.

The tourists agreed in unisons and started to snap pictures of the rock. Suddenly, a horn blared from the gifts shop entrance.

"Come on people, I know you guys got nothing else to do, so head in here to buy some gifts and also buy our own homemade sandwich, Stanwich!" Wendy announced as she gestured the tourists to enter the gifts shop. The tourists immediately ran to the gifts shop and entered it.

"Thanks Mabel." Stan sighed. "I need to get rid of this rock before I suffer a stroke trying to explain to people it's only a rock that looks like a face."

"But is it a-" before Pacifica could asked, Stan narrowed his eyes towards her, making her shut up. Mabel let out a small laugh. She then invited her to enter the Shack. Pacifica shrugged and followed her around the Shack and entered through the front door of the house.

Mabel and Pacifica headed to the kitchen. She then asked Pacifica if she wanted any drink, Pacifica shook her head.

"Okay then, if you want any drink, just take it from the fridge. Make yourself at home. I'll be upstairs for a while." She said as she went out of the kitchen, running upstairs. "Don't go anywhere!" she shouted from upstairs.

"I won't!" Pacifica shouted back. She took a seat at the table and waited for Mabel to come down. Suddenly, Wendy came into the kitchen with Soos, looking super exhausting.

"I can't believe they would buy the sandwiches. It's sells like a hot potatoes!" Wendy said to Soo who was only nodding. She then noticed Pacifica was sitting at the table. "Hey Pacifica!" Wendy greeted her.

"Hey Wendy. Hey Soos." She greeted back.

"So, what are you doing here? Waiting for Mabel?" Soos asked.

Pacifica nodded. "Yeah, she told me to wait here while she went upstairs."

"So, what are you guys planning today?" Wendy asked her as she handed her a glass of orange juice. Pacifica thanked her.

"Mabel said that she wanted to go into the forest." Pacifica noticed Wendy's face turned pale.

"You serious?" Wendy asked. Pacifica just nodded. Before Wendy could turned to head upstairs, Mabel entered the room. Everyone stood froze when she saw her.

Mabel had ditched her hoodie. She was now wearing a light blue sweater. She also let her hair down and wore a headband matching with her sweater. She looked at the three of them staring at her weirdly.

"Uuhh, what?" She asked them. "Is there something wrong? Is it my sweater? I look too bland in this color am I?" She asked for their opinion on her sweater. No one answered.

"Why are you guys staring at me like that?" Mabel began to feel uncomfortable.

"It's… It's… " Pacifica stammered. She couldn't describe what was wrong with her, but nonetheless she was glad to see her wore a sweater again.

"Your hair." Wendy continued for her. "Your hair's kinda short." She pointed out at Mabel's hair. It was shorter than before, the tip only reached her lower neck.

"Heh, yeah. I cut if down a little bit a while back. Didn't know I would cut this short." Mabel said while twiddling with her hair. "Anyway, Pacifica and I are going to the woods." She said while opening the shelf. She took out packets of sugar, some syrup and some sprinkles. After that, she head for the fridge and took out some ice cubes. Everyone knew what she was going to do.

"Mabel, are you making Mabel Juice?" Pacifica asked.

"You guess right!" Mabel cheerfully said. She then continued to switch on the blender and put everything she took into the blender. Added with 3 glasses of water and some glitters from her sweater's pocket, she started to blend it. Everyone's jaw dropped when they saw Mabel acted like this. A few days ago, she was being so cranky and defensive. Suddenly, she was being her old self! Wendy slowly backed away and approached Pacifica.

"Uuuuhhh, Paz. What did you do to her?" Wendy asked her in a low tone.

"I just… talked to her." Pacifica said with a smirk. She felt this success feeling when she realized that she was able to turn Mabel into her old self while everyone else couldn't.

"Bullshit." Wendy scoffed. "I tried that before and it didn't work."

"Maybe you didn't try hard enough." She retorted.

Wendy sighed. She turned to Pacifica. "Well, I gotta hand it to you Paz. You changed her in this very short time. I'm thankful for it."

Pacifica couldn't stop smiling and so was Wendy and Soos. They're all happy to see Mabel this way again, even it took time. Wait for Stan to see her like this, he would have freaked out.

"Aaaaannnddd done!" Mabel said as she lifted the blender and pour its content into a glass. "So, who wants a straight shot of Mabel Juice?" She asked the three of them who were now sitting at the table.

"No thanks." Pacifica said as she raised her glass to show her orange juice.

"I drank already." Wendy said as she knew what Mabel juice could do to someone who drank it.

"Yeah, me too, hambone." Soos said to her.

Stan suddenly came into the kitchen asking whether they had seen his eyepatch somewhere. Mabel turned around and offered him a glass of Mabel juice. Without thinking, Stan took the glass, thanking her niece and drank it. Everyone except Mabel gasped in horror as they saw Stan gulped every drop of the juice from the glass.

The next thing Stan knew, he was in a mansion, swimming in a pool of money. Besides him was Goldie and some random women in swimming suit. He was so happy that he was finally rich. After all the hard work on tricking people into seeing his 'wondrous' attraction, it was all finally worth it.

"Is he gonna be okay?" Pacifica asked Mabel as four of them watched Stan laughing, twitching and gurgling on the floor.

"Huh, never saw this side effect before. I wonder what have I accidentally added in this juice…" She inspected the blender content and she realized that she added too much sprinkles. "Silly me." She face palmed.

"Soos, pick him up and put him in the living room. We call it a day for today's business." Wendy instructed. Soos obliged and proceeded to lift Stan from the floor and headed to the living room. Wendy then turned around facing Mabel.

"Now." Wendy crossed her arms across her chest. "Pacifica said that both of you wanna head into the woods?" Wendy asked sternly.

"Yeah, we're gonna head out for a while. Wanna come with us?" Mabel then began to pick her bag up at the side kitchen entrance where she left it.

"Are you kidding? I'm suppose to look after you. Of course I'm coming!" She said as she followed Mabel and Pacifica towards the gifts shop. "But first, I need to lock the shop."

Mabel and Pacifica waited outside while Wendy locked the shop, instructed to take care of Stan and reminded him to fix the swollen clogged toilet. Soos acknowledged this and he immediately became the unofficial man of the house. Wendy then head upstairs to take her trustworthy axe from her backpacks.

After all had been settled, Wendy set out into the forest with Mabel and Pacifica on her side.

* * *

The Gravity Falls forest was huge and vast. In it, there were lots of wonderful and mysterious entities that never other human had seen before. The Multi-Bear, the Manotours, The Gnomes and not to forget, the Goblins. But for Mabel, Wendy and Pacifica, three of them had seen too much of it until the brushed it off as a normalcy for them.

Mabel was flipping through the blue journal while walking passed by the Gnome village. She grimaced when she looked at the village. Her first summer boyfriend turned out to be a bunch of gnomes. Lucky for her, Dipper came in time to rescue her from becoming their Gnome Queen. Wendy noticed the blue journal she was holding.

"Mabes, what's that you're reading?" She asked while walking beside her.

"It's Dipper's journal. I found it yesterday." Her eyes were still fixated on the page of the Multi-Bear. The entry stated that Dipper and Multi-Bear had been the best of friend since their first summer. She wondered how that could happened.

"Journal? Is it like, the old journal he used to hang on? The red one?" Pacifica knew about the journal Dipper used to bring wherever they went.

"Yeah. But this is his personal journal. It's still the same thingy, but the notes and drawings are more detailed than before." She told them.

Wendy could heard a rustling sound coming from the bushes around them. Wendy halted them to stop and she scanned around. Slowly, she pulled out her axe and gripped it steadily, ready to attack whatever threat will come to them. Pacifica was nervous when the rustling sound became louder and louder as if the thing was nearing them. Their eyes widened when they saw a bunch of gnomes coming out from the bushes, carrying a pie, possibly stolen from Greasy's. That would explain the constant disappearance of the pie from the conveyer machine.

"Hold it steady Randy, the last time I gave you the front position to hold it, you messed it up." Jeff the Gnome instructed his friends that were carrying the pie. He then noticed the three humans that were standing in front of them. One of them was Mabel Pines.

"Well, well, look who we got here." Jeff smirked at her. "Have you decided to come here to become our queen again, Mabel?"

Mabel snorted in disgust. "Eww, no. We're just passing through here." She said while cringing a little bit imagining of her becoming a Gnome Queen.

"Well, it's your loss. How about you, blondie? Never seen you before." He pointed out to Pacifica who was standing beside her.

"What? That's disgusting! I'll never dated a gnome like, ever." Pacifica brushed Jeff's invitation off.

Jeff then sighed in frustration. "Guess I don't have to ask you to know the answer, didn't I?" His voice projected to Wendy who was now holstering her axe behind her.

"You got that right, shorty." Wendy crossed her arms.

"Schmebulock!" One of the gnomes shouted in exhaustion of lifting the pie.

"Alright, alright, calm down. We're moving." Jeff then turned to the girls again. "Well then, good chat. We have to go now." He said as the gnomes walked towards the village. Jeff suddenly stopped by his track and turned to face Mabel. "Where's your pesky brother by the way? You usually stick with him whenever he enters the forest."

This question made Mabel frowned, but she composed herself to tell him. "He… died." The gnomes' eyes widened when they heard this.

"You-you're kidding right?" Jeff asked in disbelieve. Sure they had feuds during their first summer, but after a while, the Twins has made themselves as a mutual friends with most of the creatures that lived in the forests, even the Gnomes.

Mabel shook her head. "We were in a car crash last year. He died, protecting me." She explained.

Jeff came forward to her. "You poor girl. I always liked him, even he's being a doofus sometimes towards us." This made Mabel chuckled. "Hey, if you need anything, just asked us. We'll help what we can." He said to her. Mabel then nodded as the gnomes bid the girls farewell back to the village. Wendy suggested that they continued on their way to wherever Mabel wanted to go.

Pacifica asked her where they were going. Mabel just told her to just follow her as it was a surprise. This made Pacifica intrigued. She used to follow the twins before into the woods during their second summer. She literally saw everything that the forest has to offer. But this time, Mabel had her followed onto the high ground, away from the town and the Shack. Pacifica turned to Wendy if she knew anything about this path, but the redheaded girl just shrugged.

"Are we there yet?" Pacifica asked, she was already feeling exhausted from climbing up the hill.

"Not yet." Mabel replied while cheerfully humming a song. Wendy was amused seeing her like this.

"Are we there yet?" It's Wendy's turn to ask her.

"Almost." She replied while three of them climbed the final step of the hill. "We're here!" She said excitedly. She extended hands widely and presented to Wendy and Pacifica the greatest sight anyone can saw; Gravity Falls, in its whole scenery which stretching from the town until the shack.

"Where are we?" Pacifica asked in wonderment.

"Gravity Falls Peak." Mabel answered as she sat down near the edge of the cliff. "This is where me and Dipper would hang out during our weekends."

Wendy looked around in astonishment. She'd been here before. Dipper once took her here for their date. However, she kept that to herself for now and just enjoyed what Mabel had to show to them.

Both Pacifica and Wendy sat beside Mabel at the cliff. They stared onto the Sun setting down against the town. Mabel recalled during their fourth summer, Dipper and her would sat here and just looked beyond the vast skies, talking about the future.

* * *

 _"_ _Would you want to stay in Gravity Falls?" Mabel asked Dipper who was fiddling with the journal. "If mom and dad let us?" She added._

 _"_ _Sure, I love to stay here." Dipper looked up from the journal. "It… feels right you know? Living in the Shack, away from the bustling urban city, and maybe if we get a chance, we'll start schooling here!" Dipper started to imagine the possibilities they can do if they stayed in Gravity Falls._

 _"_ _That would be super cool, bro-bro." Mabel smiled to herself. "Hey, what about we asked them if we can stay here? Surely dad would approved with my cuteness face." She gave a suggestion._

 _"_ _Mabel, you know that your cute face only worked when we're twelve." Dipper turned his head to her and saw Mabel making a cute-begging face. Dipper sighed. "Nope, not gonna work." But Mabel wasn't giving up. She held her face to him, making their eyes fixated at each other for a good 60 seconds. Dipper couldn't hold it much longer and he finally smirked._

 _"_ _Okay, maybe a little." Dipper smirk turned to a grin. Mabel then smiled wholeheartedly._

 _"_ _Told ya it's going to work." She said, letting out a small laugh._

 _"_ _Yeah, it might just work. After all, Stan and Ford would love if we stay here. Besides, Grunkle Stan need some cheap labor to run the Shack."_

 _"_ _And don't forget Wendy, she need you too." Mabel playfully nudged him with her elbow._

 _"_ _Mabel!" Dipper's face began to turn red. He tried to hide his blush by lifting the journal up to his face. "I told you many times, we're just friends."_

 _Mabel snorted. "Yeah, right. Like I didn't know about you kissing her at that creek last week." She teased him. Mabel knew that Dipper had confessed his feelings for the second time to Wendy, but she just went along and kept it secret as Dipper begged her not to make a big deal out of it._

 _"_ _I thought we already talked about not talking about this." Dipper exclaimed in embarrassment._

 _Mabel laughed when she saw his twin sat uncomfortably when Wendy was mentioned. "Relax broseph, I'm playing with you." She said as she nudged her brother aside. Dipper let out a small laugh, but stopped as he had another thought._

 _"_ _Hey, Mabel?"_

 _"_ _Yeah bro?"_

 _"_ _If… one day, say that I'm gone, what would you do?"_

 _"_ _What are you talking about?" Mabel raised an eyebrow._

 _"_ _I mean, if say that I'm gone… from this life… Would you change? Or… would you move on. I dunno, people sometimes come and go and when their loved one dies, they seems to change. And I was worried that-"_

 _"_ _Stop it Jason." Mabel snapped. Dipper felt a sudden jolt went over his body. Mabel called him by his birth name. He immediately lifted his eyes to see her and noticed her cheeks were glistened from the tears. "Why would you say things like that? You're being an idiot. We're twins, if you don't remember. We are half of each other. If you gone, I'll go crazy, okay?" She exclaimed. "So, stop say stupid things like that. I don't wanna hear it anymore!"_

 _Dipper let out a smirk. "Well, I'm not saying that I'm leaving you, but… you have to promise me one thing."_

 _"_ _And what's that?" She sniffed a little bit._

 _"_ _Always be yourself and never ever change. You're a great sister a boy could ever get, always be my favorite Mabel. Got it?"_

 _"_ _I will. I always have bro, you're talking silly." She punched his shoulder lightly._

 _"_ _Well, that's good to hear Mabes." Dipper brushed off the tears from her cheeks. "I love you Mabes."_

 _Mabel smiled. "I love you too bro."_

 _Both of them hugged, embracing each other. Then, they released as they stared onto the blue horizon. It was beautiful, and the future was bright for both of them._

* * *

"I'll kept that promise Dipper… I will." Mabel didn't noticed tears went down her cheeks once again. She quickly wiped it before they noticed. It was painful for her when Dipper wasn't here beside her, but she tried to walk on her own, and so far, she managed it with the help of her Great Uncle and her friends. Maybe the future wasn't that bright like she imagined after all.

"It's getting late. We should head back." Mabel announced as she stood up away from the cliff.

Pacifica looked at the time. "Yup, let's go. My parents would kill me if I'm not home by this time."

* * *

"Well, that's that." Wendy said as they approached the Shack. Pacifica was so freaked out when she saw the time and immediately said goodbyes to both of them. She then get into her pink convertible and sped off towards the town, back to her manor.

Meanwhile, Wendy and Mabel entered the Shack just to find Stan waking up in the living room. He was complaining to Soos that he felt great headache and asked the handyman to get some aspirin from the kitchen cabinet. Wendy and Mabel greeted him. They noticed Stan's eyes widened when she looked at Mabel.

"Grunkle Stan? What's wrong?" Mabel asked him. "I knew it. This color does look bland!" She exclaimed to Wendy. The red haired girl just let out a small laugh.

"Tell me Grunkle Stan. Does my sweater look bland? I should've wear the green one today." Mabel demanded.

"Well, no, no. It's just…" Stan stammered. He looked at her from head to toe. She does look like her old self, minus the skirt. Stan then cracked a smile when he realized that Mabel started to soften up. "You look fine, sweetie."

Soos then came in with a bottle of aspirin and a glass of water. He handed them to Stan and excused himself to go back home. Stan nodded and the girls bid him farewell. As Soos exited the house, both the girls excused themselves to go upstairs, leaving Stan on the recliner, watching TV.

As they entered the room, Wendy immediately threw her axe into her backpack and let her body fell onto the bed. Mabel pulled out the journal and left it on the table. She proceeded to lay on her bed, letting out a heavy sigh.

"Mabel." Wendy's voice muffled from the pillow she was crushing on.

"Yeah." Mabel responded.

"You hungry?"

"Yep."

"Wanna something from the kitchen?"

"Nope."

"Wanna go to Greasy's?"

Mabel shot up from her bed with a grin. "Let's."

Wendy grunted while picking herself up from her bed. "We should bring Stan too. He's not in a good condition to make himself foods anyway." She said as both of them exited the room.

* * *

"You know we can just make something out of the kitchen tonight." Stan grunted at the passenger seat beside Wendy.

"Mabel wants to eat at Greasy's tonight, you know me, your loyal, lazy employee that is too lazy to make anything and you now have a migraine." Wendy replied nonchalantly.

"I dunno why I still keep you as my employee." He grumbled. Wendy let out a small chuckle.

"Because you can't find someone else less lazier than me. Admit it, I'm the best employee besides Soos you have." Wendy said as they entered the parking lot beside Greasy's Diner. The three of them exited the truck and headed into the diner. They took their usual seat for the past 5 years. Lazy Susan then came by and took their respective order.

As they waited for the food to come, Stan had an announcement to make.

"Ford's coming back in a few days." He said, lifting his can of Pitt Cola to sip it.

"Grunkle Ford? Isn't he in Nevada right now? Doing research and nerd thingy?" Mabel asked.

"Nah, he told me that he wanted to come back to the Shack and stay with us once I said that you are permanently staying with me." Stan replied.

"So, the break room will be his again?" Wendy asked.

"Seems like it." Stan shrugged. "The Shack's crowded with both of you already."

"Aaww, come on Grunkle Stan. You know you love us staying with you." Mabel teased.

"Yeah, whatever." He said flatly, but slightly amused. Mabel's been cranky and hostile towards everyone since the day she arrived. But by some miracle, she was back to her old self in just couple of short days.

Later, Lazy Susan came over and served their orders; pancakes.

"You know we can make these back at home." Stan complained, but nevertheless, sliced a piece and stuffed it into his mouth.

Wendy scoffed. "Yeah, but your… "Stancakes", have strands of hair chests on it, so, no thank you."

"Hey, my hair chests is what makes Stancakes, 'Stancakes'". He retorted.

"Yeah, Wendy. Stancakes is best eaten with syrups." Mabel supported her great uncle.

"See?" Stan smirked at Wendy after hearing her great-niece supportive statement.

"Oh, you're on his side now?" Wendy asked Mabel. "I thought we were a team." She jokingly sulked.

"We are, but still, Grunkle Stan's pancakes is still the best pancakes beside the Stanwich." Mabel said while pouring a whole bottle of syrups onto her pancakes. Wendy just chuckled seeing her done that. Same goes to Stan. They were both grateful that Mabel slowly back to her old self again.

* * *

 **Heh, another late update. Wonder why...**

 **Anyway, here's a short chapter for you guys. Nothing much for now... Need to. Face. Writer's. Block.**

 **As usual, review if you like, favorite if you find it worthwhile your time and follow if you find this story interesting!**


	10. Crossing the Line

**Okaaayyyy, how long has it been? Forever? Got lots and lots of e-mails from people who wanted this story to continue. No worries, all of my stories will be updated within these 3 weeks!**

 **Meanwhile, enjoy while it last.**

* * *

It's two weeks before entering summer, things began to subside down again. Mabel slowly adjusted herself again and everyone was relieved. Stan began to ask her to work at the gifts shop during weekends, Wendy hung out more with her, even joining her in forest adventure, sometimes even with Pacifica. Things began back to normal. But what worried everyone was Mabel's unpredictable change of attitude.

Sometimes, she will be a cheerful, happy Mabel, doing 'Mabel-ly' things like knitting and glittering stuffs. But, it'll come there was a time where she will be back to her gloomy self where she tends to be alone, cranky at everyone and she tends to cry whenever she was alone. But that's not the only thing that they noticed. Mabel also had been stuck with Dipper's Blue Journal since she found it. She's been reading it like her life depended on it and she would barked at anyone who tried to take it away from her.

Seeing Mabel like this made everyone worried, especially Wendy. She had looked after Mabel for the past 3 weeks since she arrived, and she had literally been nicknamed by her friends 'Mabel's mother'. It's not that Wendy mind the nickname, but she was far more concern of Mabel's sudden refusal to eat and sleep. This reminded her of Dipper who would do the same thing. But this is Mabel, and Mabel wouldn't acted like this. So, Wendy would asked Pacifica to look after her at school and making sure that Mabel would eat her lunch even just a bite.

Even with Pacifica's agreement in keeping an eye out on Mabel, she was worried that Mabel would do something out of her expectations…

…and that's what exactly what Mabel did.

* * *

For Mabel, school wasn't the best place for her to be active. She wasn't that kind of cheerful, boy-crazy girl that people used to know. She tends to be alone during recess, and she would read Dipper's Blue Journal just for the heck of it. But she was stuck on this one particular page that intrigued her so much. A page which explained about Gate to the Afterlife.

"Hey Mabel!" A voice jolted her from her reading trance. Mabel looked up from the Blue Journal she was reading and immediately shut it.

"Oh hey Paz." She let out a soft smile. "What's up?"

Pacifica took a seat beside her. "I was looking for you at the cafeteria. Thought you would be here. Have you eaten yet?" Pacifica asked her.

"No. Don't feel like it." Mabel continued to read the Journal. She had been avoiding eating for the last few days and this had made everybody worried. Pacifica also noticed that since she had found that Journal, she didn't even let it go for a second. It was just like Dipper all over again, which freaked her out sometimes.

"You need to eat Mabes." Pacifica pulled something out from her bag. "I brought Stanwiches." She waved the sandwiches she got from Wendy before they took off from the Shack. She had given Pacifica the sandwiches and told her that 'whatever happens, make her bite it, even a little'.

"Pass." Mabel said, not looking up from the Journal. "You go ahead, enjoy it."

"Okay, Mabel. You're freaking me out now. Hell, it's not just me, you're freaking everyone out!" Pacifica snapped. "Look, if there's something going on in your head, you can tell me."

Mabel lifted her head, glared her for a while, then she went back to her Journal.

"Mabel, come on sis. You're acting like Dipper…" Pacifica trailed off when she saw her fiery glare. Pacifica felt a lump on her throat when she realized she nearly crossed that line. The last time she saw someone mentioned about Dipper, that person was punched in the face.

"I'm sorry." Pacifica apologized. Mabel gazed at her for a while and looked away, still on the Journal.

"Mabel, please. Just a bite. You didn't eat anything since last few days and you made Wendy and Stan and I worried." Pacifica pleaded. She handed out the sandwiches to her, hoping that she would take it. "Just a bite, do it for me." She said, hopeful.

Mabel stared at the sandwiches that Pacifica was holding on to her. She let out a heavy sigh, shut the Journal and took the sandwiches. Pacifica beamed when Mabel took it. Amusingly, Mabel quickly tear the plastic wrapping on the sandwiches and took a large bite. Pacifica smiled seeing her eat like that. For a moment, both of them were sitting there silently as Mabel eating the sandwiches and Pacifica was thinking to say something.

"Any interesting stuff in that Journal?" She pointed out to the Journal on her lap. She was curious on why suddenly Mabel would be so interested in that freaky Journal which only Dipper would be delved into it so much. Pacifica also noticed her eye bags were quite dark, but she didn't mentioned it to her.

"None of your concern." Mabel coldly replied. Pacifica was quite taken aback when she heard this.

"Mabel…"

"So, any plans after school?" Mabel immediately change topic, making Pacifica grimaced, but she was quite happy that her sweater friend decided to make a conversations.

"Well," Pacifica thought for a while. "I'm going to have a group discussion with some of my friends after school." She said.

Mabel tilted her head. "Oh, okay. I can just walked back home." Mabel said nonchalantly.

"No, no, no. I want you to join us." Pacifica said. "And it's not with… 'them'." Pacifica quickly added, just to make sure Mabel got the right intention. Ever since her feud with Tiffany, Mabel had made everyone clear that she didn't liked to be messed around.

Mabel thought for a while and asked her. "Are you guys going to discuss about Ms. Henderson's science project that we're supposed to be doing before summer break?"

Pacifica nodded. "Yup. Glad you remembered. You're one of our group member and we still haven't done anything yet."

Mabel took another bite of her sandwiches. "Well, I was thinking about something too. Ms. Henderson told us that this project wants us to prove 5 soils have different structures and components, I can provide those soils, Grunkle Ford do keep weird soils compose in his lab." Mabel said, giving Pacifica some hope. Their group hadn't started any discussion about this project, yet somehow Mabel had volunteered to find the soils for them.

"Mabel, that's great! Now we're one step ahead." Pacifica said cheerfully, making Mabel chuckled. "Relax, we have to tell the others." Mabel took another bite of the sandwiches. "After I finish this sandwiches."

* * *

The school's bell rang and everyone started to leave the school like crazy. Only a handful of students and teachers were still in school, either detention, extra-curricular or just hanging out until evening came. Pacifica and Mabel walked into the science lab where their group was already waiting.

"Mabel's in da house!" Mabel beamed up to them, making Pacifica stunned for a second. It's not that Mabel's Mabel-ness freaked her out, but her unpredictable change of attitude made her worried and concern. Sometimes, she would be Mabel, and sometimes, she would be un-Mabel. Wendy and Stan noticed this too, but they held out just to make sure that she was totally fine.

"Mabel!" The group cheered.

"Glad you could come sista." Said Ian, one of the group member and also their classmate.

"Yeah! I almost totally forgot that we have this dumb science project thingy." Mabel snorted as she took a seat beside Pacifica.

"You said it, but what else can we do? This project cost us 40% of our grade." Lily, another group member and one of Mabel's friend said.

"Okay, now, since we're all here," Pacifica interjected. "Mabel had told me that she would be volunteering to find the soils for us." Pacifica patted gently on Mabel's back.

"Yup! My Grunkle Ford is a scientist, so it shouldn't be too hard for me to find some soily stuffs in his lab." Mabel told them.

"Okay then, now that's settled, let's talk about the schedule to make-"

Suddenly the lab door swung open with full force, making everyone jumped a little bit. They all turned around to see Brian, a school jock and also Tiffany's boyfriend standing at the door. Pacifica immediately burrowed as she knew this was all about Tiffany and Mabel's incident last two weeks. She jumped from her seat and went to him.

"Brian, I thought we'd settled about this." Pacifica exclaimed.

"You stay away from this Northwest!" Brian scowled. "She messed up my girl's face and that freak friend of yours hasn't even apologized yet!"

"She didn't have to apologize anything!" Pacifica retorted. "Tiff started all it, and Mabel ended it! She was the one who couldn't keep her mouth shut!"

Brian didn't care what Pacifica had said, she pushed her aside and confronted Mabel, who surprisingly calmed and relax. Mabel smiled when she saw the most popular school jock came over to see her.

"Hey Brian!" Mabel cheerfully said. "What brings you here?" Mabel asked, sincerely.

"You punched Tiffany's face." Brian said.

Mabel nervously chuckled. "Yeah, I was kinda bumped by that. I was meaning to apologize to her, but she wasn't around, so…."

"So, I'm you're gonna give it back." Without warning, Brian slapped Mabel so hard, she fell from her chair. "That's for Tiffany." Brian laughed.

Before Pacifica could helped her, Mabel slowly stood up, without any whimpering or cry, which surprised everyone. She rubbed her cheek, which was now red swollen and glared at Brian. "You know Brian, you're not such a gentleman for hitting a girl."

Brian was taken aback not just by her words, but also by her reaction after she'd been hit. She took the slap like it was nothing. He smirked. "Yeah, what you gonna do? Asked for your dead bro for help?"

"Uh-oh…" Pacifica and others murmured. They all knew what's coming, and slowly backed away from Mabel and Brian.

"You should be grateful that I only just slapped you, but if he's here, I'll beat the shit out of him too." Brian said, not noticing that Mabel's fists had clenched. Her eyes made a death glare and her heart was fiery.

"That's a warning, if I heard that you messed with Tiff again, you'll be dead." Brian then turned away to left the room, but suddenly he was pushed to the wall. He turned around and saw Mabel walking towards her. She shoved her arm to his throat, pressing against it. Brian suddenly couldn't breathe and he was suffocating. He was being choked.

"Listen to me _you shit_ ," Mabel snapped. "You take that back what you said about Dipper." She pressured her arm to his throat more. "You can slap me, punch me, do me, but if you ever said anything, I mean, ANYTHING, about my brother," Mabel was now nose-to-nose with Brian. "I'll _rip you fucking throat out_."

"Mabel, stop it!" Pacifica begged Mabel to release Brian, which she noticed that his face was turning purple. Mabel seemed as she was being possessed, didn't heard a word from her best friend.

"Mabel!" Pacifica tried to pull her away, but she won't budged.

"You promised Dipper!" That made Mabel snapped out her trance. She immediately noticed that Brian was just a second before passing out. She released him, making Brian fell onto the ground. She slowly stepped back from Brian's body and stared in horror. Her eyes began to well with tears, realizing what she had done.

Looking around her, Mabel saw Pacifica and others shot a gaze on her. She was speechless. She had killed Brian. She looked back to Brian, but his body didn't move. Ian ran over to Brian's body to check for pulse. Putting his two fingers on Brian's neck, he felt a pulse, and he could feel Brian's slow breathing.

"He'll lived." Brian breathe a sigh of relief.

"Mabel," Pacifica slowly put her hand on Mabel's shoulder, but she brushed her hand off and ran out of the lab. Pacifica called out for her, but she was already far away. She turned to Ian and the others and instructed them to take care of Brian. Pacifica then began to go outside to look for Mabel.

* * *

"Mabel?" Pacifica called her name across the hall while looking around. She swore that she saw her ran across the hallway and instantly vanished from sight. She took a left which led to outside, and immediately hear a sobbing sound. She then saw Mabel was sitting behind the tree where she usually sat. Slowly, Pacifica crept behind her and saw that she was in fetal position, her head was buried in her knees but her sweater wasn't pulled up to her head.

 _Oh no._ This was worse than Sweatertown. Pacifica had once dealt with Mabel's Sweatertown situation, but this is something that might had traumatized her. If Wendy knew about this… No, she needed to calm Mabel down first.

"Hey Mabel?" Pacifica called, but she didn't answer. She was still sobbing and whimpering. Pacifica grimaced. Sitting down beside her, she tried to talk to her senses.

"Mabel, it's not your fault." Pacifica started.

"DON'T!" Mabel yelled in anger. "Don't say that word!"

"But it's true, it's not your-"

"I killed him, Paz!" Mabel lifted her head and faced Pacifica. "I killed Brian!" She said frantically. Her eyes were streaming with tears and her breathing was short every second. Pacifica noticed that she was on the verge of panic attack. Pacifica immediately pulled her into an embracing hug.

"Mabel, pull yourself together." She said, rubbing her back in an attempt to calm her down. "He's still alive. You didn't kill anyone." Pacifica pulled her away and stared directly into her eyes. "You did not kill Brian."

Mabel stared back with tears streaming down her eyes, trying to process what Pacifica had told her. She didn't kill Brian? But she saw his body limping away to the floor.

"Calm down. Ian checked on him. He's still breathing." Pacifica reassured her. Mabel looked away from her.

"I wanna go home." Mabel said, not looking at her best friend. Pacifica nodded and helped her up.

"Are you okay?" Pacifica asked, seeing Mabel trying hard to stand still. She grabbed her arm when Mabel nearly tripped.

"I'm fine." Mabel responded, pulling her arm away from Pacifica's hand. She felt dizzy and her head was throbbing all of a sudden. But she held out. She tried to walk but the second she took the third steps, she fell flat onto the hard, cold pavement ground. Her vision faded to black.

* * *

"Wendy! Another busload of tourists is coming. Jack up the prices!" Stan ordered her when the he saw a bus is heading right up to the Mystery Shack.

Wendy put away the broomstick she was using aside, pulled out a sharpie from her pocket and went to every price tags and added two zeros. This is the usual MO at the gifts shops; tourists come, jack up the prices, make dumb-believable story for every fake merchandise, and they eventually buy it.

"Annnddd done!" Wendy yelled out from across the room.

"Good! Now, I'm going to make a tour, while you ready to man the register." Stan fixed his fez, picked up his eyepatch on the counter and went outside to welcome the tourists. Wendy went back to the register and plopped down on the stool. She opened her magazine while waiting for the tourist to come. But, she wasn't paying attention to what she'd she read, instead, she was thinking about Mabel's behavior for the past weeks. Surely she had went back to her old self again, but she had a new habit, not just new, but a really freaky one. She stayed up late every night and read that blue journal. She acted like Dipper, but worse. Mabel would scowled and became aggressive when Wendy tried to pull the journal way from her clutches. She slowly became a little bit paranoid like his brother. Even Stan noticed this. He even tried to talk to her about not being too attached to that Journal, but Mabel ignored him.

Wendy groaned silently. _What was in that damn Journal that Mabel was so keen about?_ She mentally asked. She needed to know what did Dipper wrote that made Mabel so attached to it. Wendy then felt her phone in her pocket vibrated. She pulled it out to see Pacifica was calling her. She answered it hastily.

 _"Wendy! Come quick! Mabel's unconscious."_ Pacifica yelled out without giving Wendy a chance to say 'hello'.

"W-what!?" Wendy exclaimed in disbelief. She jumped out from her stool. "Wh-where is she!?"

 _"We're still at the school. P-please come quick. I think she's hurt or something."_ Pacifica choked up.

"Just, stay there! I'll be there soon." Wendy immediately hung up. She frantically abandoned the register and went upstairs for her truck key. She then went back downstairs and accidentally bumping into Soos who was getting a Pitt Cola from the fridge in the kitchen.

"Soos! Can you man the register for me?" Wendy asked him frantically.

"Uuuhh, sure dude. Where're you going?" Soos asked back.

"I need to get Mabel. Paz just called me. She was unconscious or something."

"Is she okay? Does Mr. Pines know about this?" Soos asked, worryingly.

"Not yet, and I intend for this to not getting him knowing yet. Can you keep this to yourself first?"

"Yeah, sure hambone. Just bring Mabel back soon, okay?"

Wendy nodded. "Just make sure you're at the register!" She voiced out while heading out from the Shack to her truck. She started the truck and sped away to the school.

* * *

"What happened, Pacifica?" Ian asked Pacifica who was sitting beside Mabel's bed. Pacifica had screamed bloody murder after seeing Mabel fell flat onto the pavement. Luckily for her, Ian and the gang was in the hallway near the exit when they heard her screaming. They immediately picked up Mabel and brought her to the school infirmary. Fortunately for them, there was still an on-duty nurse that was attending

"I-I don't know. She suddenly fall when she tried to walk." Pacifica said while putting her back of her hand on Mabel's sweaty forehead. It was hot. "I think she had a fever." She also noticed Mabel breathe heavily. She was grunting and moaning in pain.

"Yup." Said Joy, the school nurse. "98 degree. She's definitely going there." She went to the cabinet and took some pill. She then went over and fill up a glass of water and went back to Mabel's bed.

"Pacifica, can you get her sit up? She needs to take this pill." Nurse Joy said. Pacifica nodded and she lifted Mabel up so she sat.

"Hurt…" Mabel groaned weakly in pain.

"Where does it hurt?" Pacifica asked.

"Head… it's… pounding… so bad." Mabel let out tears of pain as she spoke.

"Listen Mabel, Nurse Joy here need you to take this pill. You're having a fever." Pacifica said as Nurse Joy put the pill onto Mabel's mouth. Mabel turned her head sideways, avoiding the pill.

"Mabel please, take this." Pacifica pleaded.

"No!" Mabel protested.

Pacifica groaned in frustration. "Mabel, if you don't take it, I swear that I'll shove this pull down your throat!" She snapped, not taking any crap from Mabel anymore. Pacifica gestured her hand at Nurse Joy so handed out the pill to her. Pacifica took it and without hesitation, shoved it into Mabel's mouth. Mabel struggled a little bit, but she swallowed it when she saw Pacifica's stern glare. She knew she didn't want to step on her bad side.

"See? It's not that hard." Pacifica said as she helped her chugged some water from the glass. After that, she helped Mabel laid back on the bed and tucked her neatly. She then went over across the room where Brian was lying.

"So, how is he?" Pacifica asked Nurse Joy.

"Him? Well, he's lucky he didn't die. He almost had an asphyxiation from that choking. Who did that to him?" Nurse Joy asked.

Ian chuckled nervously. "Well, Nurse Joy, you're looking at her." He pointed out to Mabel. Nurse Joy's eyes widened, surprised by the revelation.

"I suppose Brian had ticked her off?" Nurse Joy asked, raising a brow.

"Yeah, he…" Lily interjected, but was hesitant when she looked at Mabel, it seemed that she was asleep, but was afraid if she eavesdropped what they're discussing now.

"He said something bad about Mabel's brother." Pacifica continued for her.

"Oh, what about him." Nurse Joy asked, curiously.

"He's dead." Pacifica said, monotonously.

"Oh." That's the only word Nurse Joy can muttered out. Then, the door suddenly flung opened and Wendy stepped in. She was panting and her face was pale. She saw Mabel on the bed and immediately ran to her.

"Wendy, she's fine. She just having a fever." Pacifica told her as she went over her.

"I told you to not to stay up late with that stupid book." Wendy's voice cracked. She stroked Mabel's hair gently. Mabel opened her eyes half-lidded, noticing that her short hair was stroked by an unknown hand. She turned her head sideways and saw Wendy.

Mabel let out a faint smile. "Hey Wen-Wen." She said, weakly. "You look terrible."

Wendy couldn't help but chuckled. "You worried me. Of course I look terrible."

"Sorry…" Mabel said somberly.

"Let's get you home first." Wendy said, wiping her teary eyes.

* * *

"Can you walk?" Wendy asked Mabel before who was sitting at the passenger seat. They had finally arrived at the Shack, but Mabel was still struggling to walk as her fever kicked in badly. She had to be carried by both Pacifica and Wendy when they left the school.

"Yeah, I can walk." She slowly put her left feet down from the truck and stepped on the ground. She tried to stand still, but she failed. She nearly fell and Pacifica caught her.

"You can't walk Mabel, admit it." Pacifica said sternly. Mabel shot a glare to her, but Pacifica glared back sharply. "Not taking any of your crap Mabel. You're sick, and don't act like you're not."

"Whatever." Mabel rolled her eyes. Pacifica took her left arm and put it around her neck. She then carried her all the way to the front door of the Shack. Wendy hurried over to open the door. Pacifica then continued to carry her upstairs. During all this, Mabel was struggling to let go from Pacifica's clutches, but the blonde girl surely gave her a stern glare every time Mabel fought. Wendy smiled a little bit seeing these. It was the first time she saw Pacifica became so helpful and so concern of her friend; her only true friend. So, maybe that's why she refused any help that Wendy could offered her in carrying Mabel.

"Wendy, can you go get some fleece blanket?" Pacifica asked Wendy as they ascended the stairs.

"Sure. I'll be right back." Wendy then went back downstairs. Pacifica then continued to help Mabel climbed the stairs. As they reached the last step, Mabel began to protest.

"Paz, stop treating me like a freaking baby!" Mabel groaned in frustration. "I can walk!"

Pacifica sighed heavily, but nevertheless, she let her go. "Okay, you can walk."

Mabel then took a slow steps towards the attic room where Wendy and her bedroom was. She walked wobbly, so she decided to shift her feet on the ground, but it failed miserably. With her headache she felt, plus with her dizziness, once again she fall. This time, she didn't passed out.

Pacifica chuckled a little bit. "I told you, don't act so tough when you're not." She said as she helped Mabel back up to her feet.

"Shut up or I'll tear your fake blonde hair out." Mabel scowled angrily.

Pacifica chuckled, but still maintained her seriousness in her voice. "Oh, I assure you my hair is totally one-hundred percent blonde, but you, Miss Pines, need to shut your smarty mouth and let me help you get on your bed."

Mabel, who was still holding on to one of Pacifica's shoulder, reluctantly wrapped one arm around her neck. Pacifica smiled seeing her brunette friend finally complied with her. "See? Don't you feel its better when people help you walk?"

Mabel didn't respond. Instead, she just grumbled in annoyance that she had to be carried like this. If its not for the stupid headache, she could walk herself back to the room all by herself, but no, the headache was packaged with a fever. She then kept silencing as they entered the room.

Pacifica then brought her to her bed on the right side of the room. She let Mabel sat. "Okay, let's get you change." Pacifica said.

"I can do it, Paz." Said Mabel in annoyance.

"No, you can't." Pacifica retorted.

"Get out." Mabel said, her voice started to strain.

"Make me."

"I said GET. OUT!" Mabel yelled out to her, making Pacifica flinched a little bit. She then realized that she had screamed at her best friend without realizing it. Mabel saw Pacifica's face, she was shocked and a little bit frightened.

"Oh, Paz… I-I…" Mabel's eyes began to sting, she felt tears were ready to burst out any second, she closed her eyes, trying not to let it out. But it failed, the tears began to stream down her eyes, dampening her cheeks. She started to sob uncontrollably. "Paz, I'm sorry. I-I didn't mean it to yell at you like that." She choked, but suddenly she felt arms wrapped around her neck, it was Pacifica, hugging her.

"Hey, it's alright. It's alright." Pacifica tightened her hug, embracing her. She wasn't used to hugging, but Mabel had taught her since their second summer together, and that was a good thing, because she began to get fond of hugging. "It's not your fault."

"S-stop saying that…" Mabel voice trailed off.

"Say what?"

"Tha-that it's not my fault."

Pacifica pulled away from Mabel, stared hardy into her eyes. "But it's true. It's not your fault, any of it."

Mabel turned her head sideways, staring at Dipper's former bed. "But I nearly…"

"No." Pacifica interjected. "You didn't know it. It was a freak accident."

"Brian…"

"Brian's fine, Mabel."

"But what if next time, what if it was you?" Mabel asked, making Pacifica stared blankly into her eyes. "What if I snapped at you… and make something bad to you like I did to Brian?" Mabel turned her head away, avoiding her friend's gaze. "What if… what if the next time I can't control myself anymore?"

Pacifica's eyes widened. She was speechless hearing Mabel's question. She didn't even know what to say. It's not like she was wrong, she's totally right. Mabel's behavior is erratic. And this is noticeable even since her return to Gravity Falls after Dipper's death.

Pacifica tried to say something in order to comfort her. "Mabel..."

"Can you leave me alone, for a while?" Mabel interjected her without looking at her.

"Mabel, come on-"

"Please, Paz?" the brunette pleaded her, asking her to leave her alone to compose herself. Pacifica frowned and let out a sad sigh. Slowly, Pacifica turned away and headed out from the room. As Pacifica closed the door, she could hear Mabel's sob. Pacifica stopped closing it, leaving the door with a small opening for her to observe Mabel. As she peaked through the door, she saw Mabel was crying her eyes out.

"Dipper, I need you…please." Mabel said in an almost whisper tone. "I can't… do this. You to-told me to be myself, but I can't. I just can't…"

Pacifica felt the urge to enter the room back, but she was immediately held back by Wendy, who was bringing a fleece blanket for Mabel. "Wait downstairs Paz, I'll talk to her."

Pacifica was quite hesitated when she was asked to wait downstairs. However, she obliged Wendy's order and descended the stairs. Wendy stared at the blonde walking downstairs for a while taking a long breath and let it out before entering the attic room.

Mabel was startled by the door creaking opened up. She immediately wiped her tears away before turning to the door. She saw Wendy entered the room with a fleece blanket on her hands.

"Hey Short Stack." Wendy called out her nickname as she let out a heartwarming smile. "I brought some fleece blanket for you. How's your fever?" She asked Mabel while putting down the blanket on Mabel's bed beside her. She then laid her back of her hand on Mabel's forehead to feel the heat. It was still burning hot.

"Looks like you're gonna stuck in the bed for quite a while, sis." Wendy said nonchalantly as she headed to her bed across the room. "You know what that means, no school for you." Wendy went over to her backpack and rummaged through it. She pulled out some medicines and went back to Mabel.

"Here, take these. It'll help you feel better." Wendy instructed her as she handed the pills to the teen brunette. Mabel didn't protest nor complained, instead, she went ahead and put the pills inside her mouth, taking a bottle of water on the nightstand and drank it. She then turned around and laid on the bed facing the wall, avoiding Wendy's face.

"Mabel, stop acting like this." Wendy said in frustration when she saw her turned around. "It's a freaky accident, that's all." She went near Mabel to comfort her but her hand was brushed away when she tried to put it onto her shoulder. Mabel immediately covered her face with her pillow.

"You weren't even there when it happened." Mabel's voice muffled through the pillow she used to cover her face. Wendy let out a heavy sigh. This was frustrating for her. She knew Mabel's erratic behavior would bring her into this complication, and here she was, looking at that complication unfolding before her. Wendy wasn't so sure what to say anymore. She thought of telling her about her dreams on occasional meeting with Dipper. But she wasn't so sure if that would make her feel any better, or worse. But she wasn't too keen on seeing her like this anymore.

"Mabel, turn around." Wendy said in the gentlest voice she could muster. It took a while before Mabel turned around to face the red-haired girl. Wendy could see that her eyes were red and puffy. She had been crying.

Wendy sighed seeing Mabel's state. "Sis, if it makes you feel any better, I can-"

Mabel suddenly pulled up her sweater up, covering her face. "Mabel's not here, she's in Sweatertown." She then continued to rock back and forth on the bed. Wendy chuckled a little bit seeing her like this. Nevertheless, she still need to call her down. Wendy then preceded to pull out the Blue Journal from her bag and handed to her.

"I know this is important to you, so, take it." Wendy told Mabel as she shoved the journal lightly onto Mabel's hand. Mabel jerked up a little bit when she felt something pushing onto her hand. She then lowered her sweater neck to see what was on her hand. She then looked up and down between Wendy and the journal.

"Is there something wrong?" Wendy asked as she saw something was not right in Mabel's eyes. The way Mabel looked at her and the journal was something that she hadn't seen in her for a long time.

Mabel's been hiding something and wanted to spill it.

"Mabel, you wanna tell me something?" Wendy asked in a strained voice.

"I-uuhhh…"

"Mabel, you can trust me."

"Wendy... I-".

"Whatever it is, I believe you." Wendy put out an assurance smile.

Mabel deadpanned into Wendy's eyes. Slowly, she took a deep breath and let it out.

"Wendy, I know how to bring Dipper back."

* * *

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